iTake A Road Trip
by bananarama92
Summary: Sam and Freddie taking a road trip across the country? That's bound to end in disaster, right? Or is it exactly the chance they need to see each other in a brand new way?
1. Chapter 1: Tag

**New story :) Review, let me know what you think. Your comments truly and honestly make my day, not gonna lie.**

Freddie's POV

_This is nice _I thought to myself. I sat back in my chair and closed my eyes, giving a sigh of contentment. School was over for the summer and it was a beautiful day. I sat in my usual chair on the fire escape, enjoying the sun shining on my face and the breeze that gently ruffled my hair. Suddenly, I heard a knock on the window. I turned around to see Sam climbing onto the fire escape.

"Uh…hi" I said, slightly confused.

"My mom was bugging me" Sam said by way of explanation. She sat on the floor, leaning against the wall and splaying her legs out in front of her. "And since Carly's gone, you're it, nub"

Carly had left a few days before for a summer program at Brown. She was going to be gone all summer, and I knew that this upset Sam, perhaps more than she let on. Carly was her only real friend, and the prospect of two months without her, and without iCarly, seemed to hit Sam hard.

"Well don't I feel special" I said, rolling my eyes.

"Don't" Sam retorted, leaning back and closing her eyes. The sun shone on her face, illuminating her features and bringing out sparkling hints of gold in her blond curls. We sat there in silence for a while, neither of us entirely sure what to say. It wasn't often that Sam chose to spend time with me. My PearPod was hooked up to some speakers, and we listened to the music drifting around us. Suddenly, Sam opened her eyes and held out her hand.

"Give me the PearPod"

I eyed her apprehensively, not sure if this was a safe move or not. She sensed my hesitation and rolled her eyes at me.

"Come on, dork, I'm not gonna do anything to it. I just wanna pick a song"

I reluctantly picked up the PearPod and handed it to her. She took it and began scrolling through my music. I examined her face as she looked through my songs, watching for any change in expression, no matter how small. As much as I hated to admit it, I loved pleasing Sam Puckett. She was usually so critical and mean that a compliment from her, no matter how small, was a huge deal. Also, I was nervous to see if she liked my music. Music had become a big part of my life since I started guitar lessons a year and a half ago, and I felt like my music basically defined who I was. In a weird way, if Sam approved of my music, it would sort of be like she approved of me. I scrutinized her face, but it remained expressionless as she scrolled through the library of songs. Finally, she picked one and gave the PearPod back to me. The song she picked was one of my favourites, which surprised me. Who knew that Sam and I had anything in common? I leaned back in my chair and allowed the familiar music to wash over me. I sang along under my breath, and I could see that Sam was doing the same. The song ended, the last strains of guitar fading away. The PearPod was on Shuffle, so I waited to see which song would play next. When it started, I recognized the opening guitar instantly. Running Away by AM. The song that was playing when Sam and I kissed. _Someone up there has a weird sense of humour _I thought to myself. I once again examined Sam's face for any change in expression, but her eyes remained closed, her face relaxed. I could have sworn I heard her inhale sharply when the song started, but I told myself that it was just my imagination. I leaned back in my chair again, eyes closed, listening to the song and replaying that night in my head. _Arguably the weirdest night of my life _I thought. Ever since Sam and I had kissed on this very fire escape that night, there had been something there that I couldn't quite define. Sam wasn't any nicer to me, but things between us changed ever so subtly. We made the transition from acquaintances to friends, as hard as we both tried to deny it. Before that night, Sam and I couldn't really be called 'friends'. We were getting closer, but whenever something happened that would classify us as friends, we would resist it or ignore it. Neither of us really wanted to accept the fact that we had become friends, albeit reluctant ones. But that night broke the barrier, and although Sam still tormented me, perhaps even more viciously than before, on those rare occasions when Sam and I found ourselves acting like friends, or if we needed a friend in each other, we didn't shy away from it anymore. We had come to accept our friendship, rather than denying it or ignoring it. Before that night, Sam would never have come to me about Missy. And I never would have helped her. But now… things were different. And I liked it. And I would never ever admit it to anyone, but for me, there was something more. I was beginning to like Sam, and it scared the crap out of me. I couldn't like Sam. No. Just…no. I opened my eyes and tried to clear the thoughts out of my head. Sam had opened her eyes and was looking at her feet with an unreadable expression and a faraway look in her eyes. The song ended and she snapped back to reality, her eyes instantly focussing.

"I want a smoothie, nub. And you're gonna buy one for me"

"Am I now?" I said, raising my eyebrows.

"Yep" she said, hopping to her feet and dragging me out of my chair. She pushed me through the window and marched me out the apartment and towards the elevator. When she figured that I would come voluntarily she let go and we walked side by side to the Groovy Smoothie. We ordered smoothies, denying T-Bo's offer of avocados on a stick, and sat down at a table. We drank our smoothies in silence, watching the other customers of the Groovy Smoothie. Suddenly, Sam looked at me with her trademark smirk. She pointed behind me, to the corner of the building.

"Harold. Janitor"

This was a game we played often, whenever we were in a place with a lot of people. We found a person, and gave them a name and occupation that seemed to suit them. It was a dumb game, but we had been playing it for years and it was a surprisingly effective way of passing the time. I turned around to see an overweight, balding man with an impressive moustache and a bowling shirt.

"Agreed" I said, wrinkling my nose. I surveyed the store until I spotted a small old lady shuffling inside. She walked past our table and I could distinctly smell cat litter as she passed.

"Gladys. Crazy cat lady" I said, pointing discreetly. Sam looked, then nodded once in agreement. We carried on like this for quite a while, going back and forth.

"Raoul. Male stripper"

"Angus. Tech support"

"Cathy. Axe murderer"

"Dave. Gas station attendant"

We bantered for a while until T-Bo shooed us out, telling us that we needed to buy another smoothie or leave. Since we were both broke, we left. We walked up the street side by side, enjoying the sunshine. Suddenly, Sam stopped. I walked a couple steps before I realized that she was no longer beside me and I turned back. Sam was standing on the sidewalk, taking off her sweatshirt. She pulled it up and the shirt she was wearing underneath rose, exposing a strip of tan stomach, with hipbones poking out ever so slightly. As she stretched her hands up, pulling the sweatshirt over her head, the jeans that were sitting on her hips fell down slightly, and I could see glimpses of plain black underwear. I blinked spastically. Sam paused, her hair all messed up and the sweatshirt half-off.

"What are you looking at, nub?"

"Nothing" I said quickly, averting my gaze. She looked at me suspiciously but thankfully didn't say anything else. She simply walked towards me, sweatshirt in hand. Under the sweatshirt she was wearing a tight-fitting blue tank top that showed off her slender figure. The thin straps of the tank top did almost nothing to hide the bright yellow bra straps underneath. _Freddie! _I mentally scolded myself. _Stop thinking about Sam's undergarments! _Sam caught up to where I was waiting and we continued walking.

"Where are we going?" I asked, since Sam seemed to be walking with more purpose than me.

"I dunno" she answered. "This way!"

She hung a sharp left, leading the way down an unfamiliar street.

"Uh, Sam? Do you know where we are?"

"Nope. Why?"

"No reason…"

We walked down the street, passing parked cars and unassuming buildings. We turned a corner and found ourselves looking at a huge field. Trees were dotted along the outside of the field, and a few benches were scattered under some of the trees. A group of about twenty or so kids, who looked about six, were darting all over the field, dodging between the trees and laughing. Sam headed towards the field and I followed her. She dropped her sweatshirt on the grass and flagged down the nearest kid, a tiny boy with blonde hair that stuck up in a million directions.

"Hey kid. What are you playing?" she asked him. The kid struggled to catch his breath.

"Tag" he finally managed, panting.

"Can we play?" Sam asked, her face brightening. I looked at her in confusion.

"I guess so. Let me ask the others" he replied, turning to face the field. "Guys!" he tried to yell, but he was so out of breath that his attempt at a shout was nothing more than a wheeze. Sam took matters into her own hands.

"HEY!" she hollered. The kids stopped running and looked at Sam. She beckoned them over and they began walking towards us. When all the kids were clustered around us, she spoke.

"I'm Sam and this is Freddie" she began. I waved, and a few kids waved back. "Do you mind if we play with you?"

The kids looked at one another, then shrugged. A little girl near the front with an upturned nose spoke for the group.

"Sure!" she said brightly. "We're playing tag. Do you know how to play?"

"I think so" Sam answered, pretending to think about it. "Wanna remind me how?"

"Someone is It, and you have to run away from them. If they touch you, then you are It and you have to touch someone. Geddit?"

"Got it" said Sam, nodding. "So, who's it?"

The kids shared a mischievous look and began running away at full speed. The girl with the upturned nose touched Sam's hand before darting away.

"YOU!" she called over her shoulder, laughing. The field was now a mass of running, screaming kids. Sam looked at me with a wicked smile before shoving my shoulder.

"Now it's you, nub" she said, beginning to run away. "Catch me if you can!"

I looked at her, debating whether or not to play. _Oh, what the hell _I decided, chasing Sam. I hadn't realized how fast she was. When it became clear that I wasn't going to catch her, I stuck out my arm and brushed a passing kid on the arm.

"YOU'RE IT!" I yelled, running in the opposite direction. I don't know how long we played with these kids. Eventually we all collapsed on the ground, panting. When I had caught my breath, I sat up and surveyed the group of kids sprawled out on the grass, wheezing and panting. Sam plopped down on the grass next to me, her face red and her hair piled into a hasty bun from which a few curls had escaped. She lay flat on her back and closed her eyes, breathing heavily, her ribcage heaving up and down. Despite the red face and the messy hair, Sam was glowing.


	2. Chapter 2: Spinning

**Thanks for the reviews so far, they honestly make my day. I refresh my inbox every, like, five minutes checking to see if I got more. It's kind of sad, really. Anyway, here's chapter 2. I'm in a really good mood because Ariana Grande from Victorious mentioned me in one of her videos, so I figured I would update early :D**

Sam's POV

Whew. I was tired. It had been a long time since I ran this much, and it wasn't as easy as it used to be. I lay back on the grass with my eyes closed, trying to catch my breath. Eventually my breathing slowed and my heart rate returned to normal. I had forgotten how much I loved this. Just playing outside. All of the people I knew no longer liked playing outside, preferring to spend their time inside on the computer or watching TV. _The little kids have it right _I thought. I sat up and looked around at the kids lying all over the grass. Most of them had caught their breath and were now sitting up, wondering what game to play next. I suddenly remembered a game I used to play as a kid, especially when I went to the beach.

"Hey guys, wanna play a fun game?" I called to the kids. They gathered around me to hear the game, including Freddie, who was still sitting next to me and looking slightly nervous at what I was going to tell these impressionable young kids.

"Okay" I began. "First you stand up, then you spread your arms out like this"

I stood up, arms outstretched on either side to show them.

"Then you spin in a circle as fast as you can until I say stop, and then you run"

The kids all jumped to their feet, leaving Freddie the only one sitting.

"Come on, Freddie" I said, jabbing his thigh with my toe. "Play with us"

"Yeah, Freddie, play with us!" chorused the kids. Reluctantly, Freddie got to his feet.

"Okay, spread out so we don't hit each other" I said, causing the kids to disperse across the field.

"Spread your arms!" I shouted, so all the kids could hear me. All around me, the kids stuck their arms out straight to the side.

"Ready….GO!" I shouted. I began to spin as fast as I could. The world whirled around me in a blur of colour as I spun faster and faster. I counted to sixty in my head.

"STOP!" I hollered. I stopped spinning and began to run, ducking from side to side as I struggled to keep my balance. All around me the kids staggered drunkenly across the field. Kids began falling down left and right, causing other kids to trip on them and also fall down. Soon enough, almost every kid was on the floor. I sat down and waited for the surroundings to stop moving. When the disorientation was gone, I looked expectantly at the kids.

"Well?"  
"That was AWESOME" one little boy shouted. A cacophony of little voices filled the air, exclaiming how great this game was.

"Everybody ready to play again?"

I was greeted by a chorus of 'yeah!'s

We stood up and spread out once more. The kids stretched out their arms again, and waited for me to call it. I decided to watch this time, since watching this game is just as much fun as playing it. Cause, you know, what isn't entertaining about a bunch of little kids staggering all over the place, knocking each other down and falling over?

"Ready…GO!"

The kids began spinning in frantic circles, bumping into each other and whirling like dervishes all over the field. Freddie was moving steadily farther away as he spun, arms whirling above the heads of the rest of the kids.

"STOP!" I called. The kids began to run, once again staggering and falling over everywhere. Freddie was so far away that he hadn't heard me, and he was still spinning.

"FREDDIE, STOP!" I shouted. He apparently didn't hear me, because he kept spinning.

"FREDDIE!" I shouted again at the top of my lungs. "STOP!"

This time he heard me and he stopped spinning, stumbling all over the field. By now all the other kids had mostly recovered.

"Well?" I said, looking expectantly at the kids. "Go attack him!"

They charged at Freddie, screaming like a mob as they descended on him. I watched, laughing, as they clambered all over him, hanging from his arms and wrapping themselves around his legs until he toppled to the floor. Once he was down they swarmed all over him like ants, burying him under a huge pile of kids. I watched as he grabbed the kids, pulling them off of him and throwing them everywhere. He picked them up and wrestled with them and threw them around, and they absolutely adored it. I remembered all too well how much I loved to be tossed around like that when I was a kid, and I could tell that these kids were having a ball. In the middle of them all was Freddie, playing around with them and laughing delightedly the whole time. _Freddie is really good with kids _I noted in surprise. _He's gonna make an awesome dad one day. _I stopped, surprised at myself for even thinking something like that. I shook my head a little to clear out these weird thoughts and returned my attention to Freddie and the kids. Freddie had managed to get up, but kids were still hanging off of his arms and clinging to his legs. He tried to walk, but the kids wrapped around his legs prevented him from going too far before he fell down and was instantly attacked by children. I watched, laughing, as he struggled to get to his feet again. He managed to stand up, and he said something to the kids. Miraculously, they let go of his arms and legs and stood around him. Freddie looked up and caught my eye, and jerked his head, summoning me. I walked over and stood next to him.

"What up, Fredweird?"

"We're playing more tag" he answered back, a wicked smile creeping across his face. "And you're It!" he shouted, tapping my arm and darting away. I was suddenly surrounded by kids running in all directions, trying to get away from me. I started running in a random direction, hearing squeals coming from the kids. We had only been playing tag for a few minutes when I suddenly heard an ear-splitting shriek coming from my left. The kids all stopped in their tracks and craned their necks to see what was going on. Looking over their heads, I saw a tiny little girl with long black hair sitting on the floor crying. Having located the source of the noise, the kids were beginning to run over to the girl to see what was wrong. I walked behind them, following the crowd to where the girl was sitting on the grass. The kids were clustered in a tight group around the girl, but over their heads I could see a trickle of blood running down the girl's leg. _That's it? _I thought to myself. _The kid is barely bleeding! _I turned around and was walking away when I heard Freddie talking to the girl in a soothing voice. I looked back at the girl and I saw Freddie kneeling next to her.

"What's your name?" he coaxed.

"S-S-Sa-Sarah" the girl managed to say between sobs.

"What happened, Sarah?"

"I f-f-fell" she sobbed.

"Looks like you cut your knee" he said gently. "Are you okay?"

"It's not my kn-knee"

"Well then where does it hurt?"

The girl pointed to her left foot. Freddie gently picked up her foot and put it in his lap, inspecting it. He eased the girl's shoe and sock off, prompting fresh cries. Even from where I was, I could see that the girl's ankle was red and swollen.

"Ooh" Freddie said. "That looks like it hurts"

"It does"

"Okay, do you live near here?"

"Over there" the girl said, nodding and pointing. Freddie scooped the girl easily into his arms and began to walk in the direction she pointed.

"Sam, could you get her shoe please?" he asked, stopping next to me.

"Somebody hand me the shoe!" I yelled. Soon enough, the shoe was thrust into my hand, the sock stuffed inside. Freddie and I walked across the field and down the street to the building the girl told us she lived in. We stopped at the door.

"Sam could you…?" Freddie said, nodding his head at the doorbell. I rang the doorbell and soon enough, a woman who looked in her early thirties answered the door, wiping her hands on a towel. She froze when she saw the girl in Freddie's arms, her face tearstained and her eyes red.

"What did you do to my daughter?" she demanded, snatching the girl out of Freddie's arms. Freddie froze, his eyes wide.

"N-nothing" he stammered. "She fell, and…"

"You expect me to believe that?" she hollered, glaring at Freddie.

"It's true!" I interjected angrily. "Don't blame him cause your kid is a klutz"

The woman rounded on me.

"Excuse me?"

"Ask her" I said, pointing at the girl.

The woman looked at the girl.

"Sweetie, what happened?" she asked, her tone instantly comforting.

"I fell and hurt my foot" she girl answered.

"See?" I said. The woman said nothing, just glowered at Freddie and me before slamming the door in our faces.

"She's lovely" Freddie said, rolling his eyes as we walked back towards the field. When we got back to the field, the other kids were anxiously waiting to hear if Sarah would be okay. We assured them that she wasn't going to die, since a few of them seemed genuinely concerned.

"You guys ready for more tag?" I yelled, pumped.

"Uh, Sam?" Freddie interrupted. "It's nearly dark, so I bet these kids need to get home"

I looked up and realized that Freddie was right. _Where did the time go? _I wondered.

"Fine" I said, pouting. I turned and began to walk back to the road.

"Bye, guys!" I heard Freddie say. I turned around to see the kids all giving Freddie one massive group hug. I smiled slightly before turning and continuing to walk.


	3. Chapter 3: Road Party

**Thanks for the reviews, they make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Keep 'em coming, y'all! And in reply to xNomii about the video I was mentioned in – I follow Ariana Grande on Twitter, and she tweeted a picture of Big Ben with the caption "****Where are you guys tweeting from? Im tweeting from handsome Mr. Ben! ;)". Obviously she got a lot of responses, because she then tweeted "This is amazing! I'm going to make an international shout out vid! So tell me... WHERE ARE YOU? :)". I'm from Barbados, and I figured that I would be the only one who replied from Barbados, so I tweeted back, and she mentioned me in her video :D. If you go onto YouTube and search "Ariana's Shoutouts" you'll find the video. I'm jennifermartin4 from Barbados ;)**

Freddie's POV

What a great group of kids. I turned and saw that Sam was already a good fifteen feet ahead of me. I was breaking into a jog to catch up when I saw her sweatshirt on the grass. I grabbed it and ran up to Sam's side.

"Here" I said, shoving the sweatshirt at her. She looked at it, and then took it wordlessly.

"You're welcome" I said sarcastically.

"Don't start with me, Fredward" Sam warned me. I shook my head at her but said nothing, knowing that if I began fighting with Sam, I was definitely gonna lose. We walked side by side up the street. The streetlights had come on, bathing the street in orange light. We walked back to Bushwell, neither of us saying anything. Sam and I didn't talk much, but the silences weren't awkward. Neither of us felt the need to fill the silence with useless chitchat, so we didn't speak unless we had something to say. When we reached Bushwell, Sam stopped at the door of the lobby.

"See ya later, Fredward"

I stopped, having completely forgotten that Sam didn't live here.

"Do you want me to drive you home?" I offered. She shook her head.

"Nah, I already spent the whole day with you. I've reached my Fredward tolerance level"

As she spun on her heel and walked away, I realized that she was right. I had spent the whole day with Sam, and we had actually gotten along. Not only that, but I had _fun._ I shook my head in disbelief as I walked into the lobby and up to my apartment.

After that, Sam and I spent almost every day together. Some days we just hung out on the fire escape, some days we made videos for the iCarly website and some days Sam led us into some adventure that she thought up. Sam still tormented me, but we had definitely gotten closer, and I now found it surprisingly easy to talk to Sam. It now felt natural, like breathing. In, out, me, Sam. One day, about two weeks after Carly left, Sam and I were in the Groovy Smoothie. Sam was particularly grouchy, because we were supposed to do iCarly that day. Sam was growing accustomed to not having Carly around, but she still missed iCarly, and she was always unhappy on iCarly days.

"I'm bored" she grumbled, resting her cheek on her hand. Suddenly, she sat up straight in her chair, as though she had an epiphany.

"Let's go visit Carly at her smart people camp!" she said brightly.

"Visit her?" I said in disbelief. "You know the camp is at Brown, right?"

"So?"

"And Brown is in Rhode Island?"

"Your point?"

"And Rhode Island is on the other end of the country?"

"Oh"

"You really should start paying attention in geography"

"And you really should get a life" she snapped. "But that's never gonna happen either"

Suddenly, her face brightened again.

"Let's take a road trip!"

I looked at her like she was out of her mind.

"A road trip?" I asked in disbelief. "You want to take a road trip to the other side of the country?"

She nodded eagerly, her eyes sparkling.

"And you really think that my mother is going to let me drive across the country with you?" I asked, raising my eyebrows at her.

"Ugh!" Sam groaned loudly. "No offense, but your mom fails at life"

I was about to protest, thought about it, and then shrugged in agreement.

"I can ask her, but I doubt she'll agree" I said.

"So don't ask" Sam said, looking at me like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Yeah, that'll be a fun road trip" I said sarcastically. "You, me, and the squadron of cop cars that my mom will send to bring me home"

Sam was about to say something when I cut her off.  
"I'll ask when I get home" I said firmly. She understood that this was the end of the discussion, and moodily sipped her smoothie.

Later, after I dropped Sam home, I let myself into the apartment.

"Mom?" I called. "You home?"

"In here" I heard her call from the kitchen. I walked in to find her stirring something on the stove. I sat at the kitchen table.

"Mom?" I began. "How strongly would you object to Sam and me taking a road trip to Rhode Island?"

She whipped around and stared at me in disbelief.

"Excuse me?"

"Sam and I want to go to Rhode Island to visit Carly"

"Absolutely not!" she screamed, turning off the stove and facing me with her hands on her hips.

"Come on, Mom" I pleaded. "I'll drive really carefully, I promise"

"I don't care!" she snapped. "I'm not letting you drive across the country with that delinquent!"

Suddenly, I had an idea.

"Mom" I began, sounding defeated. "We don't want to go visit Carly. The truth is… Sam wants to see her dad"

My mom's face softened and she sat down opposite me.

"Her dad?"

"Yeah" I said sadly. "She managed to find him. He's living in Rhode Island with his new wife, and she wants to go see him but her mom doesn't want anything to do with him. She won't drive her, and they can't afford a plane ticket"

I could see that my mom was seriously considering letting me go.

"I really want to do this for her, mom" I said. "I mean, she really wants to see him, even though he bailed when she was little. I get that" I said forlornly, looking down into my lap. That did it. I knew that bringing up my dad would make her crack.

"Okay" she said, sighing. "But I want you to text me every three hours and call me every night"

I leaped out of my seat and hugged my mom tightly.

"Thanks" I whispered in her ear.

Four days later, I was loading my last bag into my truck.

"Got all your stuff in?" I asked Sam. She nodded. I closed the door and walked over to my mom, who was standing next to the truck. I gave her a hug.

"Bye mom" I said. "Thanks again for letting me go"

She hugged me back and then walked over to Sam, putting her hand on her shoulder.

"Good luck" she said, smiling at her.

"Uh…thanks?" Sam said, looking confused. We got in the truck and I started it, waving out the window one more time before pulling out of the parking lot.

"Okay, first things first" Sam said, turning to me. "What up with your mom?"

"Oh" I said, realizing that I had forgotten to tell her why my mom was letting me go. "I told her that you found your dad, and you wanted to see him but your mom wouldn't take you"

"Nice!" Sam said approvingly. "Good work, Fredward"

"Why thank you" I said, smiling. Sam leaned back in her seat, propping her bare feet on the dashboard in front of her.

"Aw Sam!" I whined. "You're gonna make my car smell like feet"

Without looking at me, Sam moved her right foot and put it on the air conditioning vent. Almost instantly, the smell of feet began to permeate the small cab of the truck.

"Sam!" I groaned. She smirked at me, but moved her foot. We drove in silence for a little while, encountering little traffic on the highway. Sam was curled up on the seat, her head against the door, gazing out the window. Every so often I would sneak a peek at her, fascinated by how peaceful she looked. It was highly unusual to see Sam looking so calm and contemplative, and I couldn't take my eyes off her. Well, obviously I had to, since I was driving, but whenever I had the opportunity I would glance over at her. Suddenly, out of the corner of my eye, I saw her sit straight up.

"I LOVE THIS SONG!" she hollered, turning the radio up as high as it would go. Sam began to dance in her seat, thrashing around, curls flying everywhere.

"SAM, TURN IT DOWN!" I bellowed, but she couldn't hear me over the deafening music.

"COME ON FREDDIE!" she yelled at the top of her lungs. "BELT IT!"

Sam's energy was infectious, and soon enough I found myself singing along at the top of my lungs. When the song was over, Sam turned the radio back down and collapsed back in her seat, laughing and out of breath. I turned the corner and came upon the longest line of traffic I had ever seen. Cars stretched along the road as far as the eye could see.

"Aw, man" I groaned. I sighed and slumped in my seat. After twenty solid minutes of not moving an inch, I turned off the car.

"Dude, what did you do that for?" Sam said, shoving me in the side. "Now it's gonna get all hot"

"So open the door" I retorted. "You aren't the one paying for gas"

She thumped my forehead, but said nothing. She opened the door and stretched her legs out. After five more minutes she got out of the car and hopped into the bed of the truck before climbing onto the roof.

"Sam!" I said, leaning out of the car. "Get down!"

"I'm trying to see what the deal is" she said, using her hand to shield her eyes against the sun. After a few minutes of scanning the road, she climbed back down.

"Nothing" she said with a sigh. She stood outside the truck, leaning against the side, before she wandered behind us. I whipped my head around, trying to see where she was going. I turned around just in time to see her rapping on the window of the car behind us. I got out of the car and hurried over to where Sam was standing.

"Sam, stop it" I said, pulling on her arm to try and get her to come back to the truck. Just then, the window rolled down to reveal a small old lady wearing an enormous pair of sunglasses.

"Yes?" she said suspiciously.

"Sorry to bother you, ma'am" I said quickly, still trying to pull Sam away. "We'll just-"

"I'm Sam" Sam cut me off.

"Pat" the lady said, still suspicious.

"Hey, Pat, how goes it?"

"I'm fine thank you. How are you?" said the lady, still visibly confused.

"I'm bored. Can you do anything weird?"

The lady looked taken aback. I gave Sam a sharp poke in the side before tugging on her arm.

"Well…" said the lady. "I used to be able to put my fist in my mouth, but I haven't tried in years"

"Do it!" Sam said excitedly. To my astonishment, the lady balled her tiny hand into a fist and proceeded to stick it in her mouth. She got about three-quarters of the way there before pulling it out again.

"Hold on" she said. Then, without hesitation, she pulled out her dentures and put them on the seat next to her. She then formed a fist again and shoved the whole thing in her mouth. Sam began to clap and cheer.

"That was AWESOME!" she said enthusiastically. "Wait here"

With that she spun on her heel and ran back to the truck, opening the back door and sticking her torso in. She soon surfaced holding something in her hand. As she got closer, I saw that it was my handheld video camera. She opened it and pointed it at herself.

"So Freddie and I are on a road trip across the country to see Carly at her smart people camp" she told the camera. "And we are stuck in traffic and I got bored, so I asked this old lady to entertain us"

"Do it again" she said, pointing the camera at the lady. The lady once more shoved her fist in her mouth. After a few seconds she took it out again.

"WOO!" Sam cheered, pointing the camera at herself again. "Give it up for Pat!"

The lady smiled a toothless smile and waved at the camera before popping her dentures back in.

"Let's go see what other weirdoes we can find" said Sam, pointing the camera at herself again. "Later, Pat!"

Sam then proceeded to go from car to car, asking the occupants to do something weird. A lot of people ignored us, but quite a few also happily performed for us, especially the ones who recognized us. We managed to find a girl who could pull her lower lip down over her chin, a man who was an insane whistler and a gymnast who I swear had no bones because she was so flexible, among other people. People also began getting out of their cars when they saw Sam and I outside, milling around and chatting with each other. Sam had managed to turn a traffic jam into a block party. We knocked on the window of a small red Volvo, and the window was rolled down to reveal a guy of about twenty. I could see a guitar case wedged in the backseat of his small car. Apparently, so could Sam.

"You play guitar?" she asked. "Awesome, play a song for us!"

The guy grabbed the case out of the backseat and opened it to reveal an acoustic guitar. He put the strap over his shoulder and leaned against his car, looking thoughtful.

"Ah" he said suddenly. "I know what I'll play"

Sam trained the camera on him as he began to strum. I recognized the opening strains instantly. Summer of 69. One of Sam's favourite songs. As soon as I heard the first chords, I looked at Sam, whose face had lit up. The guy began to sing in a clear voice. He was amazing. One of the ladies a few feet away heard and walked over to listen.

"I love this song!" she said, singing along. More people heard and wandered over, singing along. Soon enough, there were at least a hundred people all over the road all singing along. Sam once again hopped onto the roof of my truck and filmed the whole thing, singing along under her breath the whole time. The guy finished and everybody clapped and cheered for him.

"Traffic's moving!" I heard someone shout. Everyone began to disperse, returning to their cars. I walked back to the truck and got in, still amazed at what had just happened. Sam had taken a traffic jam and turned it into one of the most incredible things I had ever witnessed, just because she was bored. Sam jumped into the car and slammed the door.

"Fire it up, Fredward"

I started the car and began to inch forward. We drove for a little bit when Sam announced that she was hungry. Shocker, that. We pulled into an Inside Out Burger and I parked. We got out and Sam all but ran into the restaurant. We sat down and ate lunch, Sam eating approximately a whole cow's worth of burgers. Once we were finished, we paid and left, getting back in the car. Almost as soon as we began to drive Sam fell asleep curled up on her seat. A blonde curl had fallen over her face and fluttered with each breath. Once more, I would glance at her every so often, sleeping peacefully, curled up like a cat. We hit more traffic, and I was able to get a good look at her. I noticed that when Sam is asleep, with her face relaxed and all traces of anger and sarcasm gone, she looks almost like a child. Before I could stop myself, I reached over and gently moved the curl off her face. As I was lifting it up Sam twitched and I froze, terrified of the prospect of Sam waking up to find me holding her hair, but she simply gave a little sigh and shifted her head slightly. I relaxed and carefully finished moving the curl off her face, then sat back in my seat, looking at Sam. Then, traffic began moving again and I returned my attention to the road.


	4. Chapter 4: Swimming

**Please review. Pretty please? If you do, I will send you a virtual cookie. **

Sam's POV

_What the hell? _I thought groggily. I had been happily sleeping when I felt something brush my nose, waking me up. I wasn't fully awake yet, though, but rather in that in between stage where you are aware of what's going on around you, but you can't open your eyes yet. It felt almost like somebody was holding a piece of my hair. I involuntarily twitched, and whatever was moving my hair stopped. I suddenly realized what was going on. Freddie had a piece of my hair. _It must have been in my face _I thought to myself. _That's what brushed my nose and woke me up. _Strangely, this thought didn't make me angry, which was weird. Usually, if I caught Freddie messing with my hair while I slept I would have punched him in the throat. But now, I didn't mind. It was almost…affectionate, what Freddie was doing. I gave a little sigh and moved my head, not opening my eyes. Once Freddie thought that I was still fully asleep he put the lock of hair on the side of my head, away from my face. Then he pulled away, and the last thing I remember before falling back asleep is the car moving off.

"Sam. Hey, Sam. Wake up" I heard Freddie say softly. I groaned turned my head. Then I felt him give me a gentle poke in the arm. I turned to face him and opened one eye.

"There better be a good reason for waking me up, Fredward" I said, my voice thick from sleep.

"I've stopped for dinner"

Well, that's a good reason alright. I sat up in my seat, wide awake.

"Dinner? " I asked excitedly. I looked around. "Where are we?"

"Welcome to the town of Belleville" he answered, spreading his arms out in front of him. I looked around and saw that we were in an empty parking lot facing the water. The sun was beginning to set, casting a dusky glow over everything and making the water twinkle. I looked back at Freddie questioningly.

"We're right on the Washington border" he explained. "On Snake River"

I nodded once, and then stretched, trying to undo the knots in my neck. I got out of the truck and sat on the floor, stretching my legs out in front of me and leaning forward. _Ahhh_ I thought as my muscles stretched after being curled up for so long. I heard Freddie shut his car door and soon enough he appeared around the front of the truck. He raised his eyebrow at me questioningly.

"I needed to stretch, nub" I said. He shrugged and offered me his hand. I took it and he hoisted me onto my feet. I stumbled forward slightly and automatically put out my hand to steady myself. Unfortunately, my hand landed on Freddie's chest. We both froze, and even in my shock and horror I noted that Freddie's chest felt surprisingly…defined. I quickly took my hand off his chest and yanked the other one out of his grasp.

"So what's for dinner, Fredlumps?"

"I figured we could eat there" he said, pointing behind him. I looked over his shoulder and saw a tiny wooden building with a faded sign in front. The sign read "Lou's Lobsters"

"That'll work" I said happily. We set off towards the restaurant, which was surprisingly busy. We could see people eating on the wooden benches in front of the building, and through the windows we could see more people inside. As we got closer, we could hear laughter and music emanating from the building. I hadn't even eaten yet, but I already liked this place. We walked into the crowded restaurant and ordered. Once we got our food we took it outside and sat at one of the wooden tables, swivelling ourselves around on the benches. Freddie put the platter of lobsters between us and handed me a paper napkin. I tucked it into my shirt and eagerly began to rip apart a lobster. Once I had got through the shell and exposed the meat, Freddie and I both pinched off a bit of meat and ate it.

"Oh my God" we groaned in unison. It was like heaven in your mouth. We didn't say anything after that, just ate voraciously until we were both stuffed.

"That was amazing" I moaned.

"Mmhmm" Freddie agreed. I looked across at the river. The sun was setting, sending streaks of pink, orange and violet shooting through the sky. The water sparkled dimly. In the distance I could see a pier beyond the parking lot extending out into the river.

"Let's go for a walk" I suggested. Freddie looked at me for a moment, and then got up. I clambered out of my spot and we walked in silence through the parking lot.

"Hold on" Freddie said suddenly, hanging a left. "I just wanna get my camera. This sunset is too amazing not to document"

I said nothing, just waited impatiently until he had his camera. When he had retrieved it, we walked through the parking lot and onto the worn wooden pier. The pier was quite long, and we walked along in silence. About a quarter of the way from the end, Freddie stopped and began taking pictures. I continued without him, walking all the way to the end and sitting down. I took off my shoes and socks and let my legs dangle off the edge of the pier, my toes in the water. I traced circles in the water with the tips of my toes, watching the ripples spread farther and farther across the surface of the water. I felt the pier move as Freddie walked up behind me. Wordlessly he sat down next to me, took off his shoes and socks, rolled up the legs of his jeans, and dipped his feet in the water. Where the water barely covered my toes, Freddie's feet were submerged up to the ankle. I said nothing, just continued looking across the water.

"You okay?" Freddie asked softly. I turned to look at him.

"Yeah" I said just as softly. We both instinctively spoke quietly, knowing that speaking in a normal volume would break the magic of the sunset. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"No reason" he said. "You're just unusually quiet and…peaceful"

_He really shouldn't have said that _I thought to myself. I turned to face him, and I saw that he was looking at me intently. I smirked at him, and then shoved him hard, sending him tumbling into the water. He went in with a splash, sending water flying up at me and making the surface of the river shimmer as the waves spread. He surfaced, coughing.

"Better?" I asked, smirking at him again.

"Yeah, yeah that's more like you" he said, wiping his eyes. He swam over to the pier and placed his hands flat on the wood, hoisting his torso out of the water. Seeing him there, balanced so precariously, I couldn't help placing my hands flat on his shoulders and pushing him back in. He once again surfaced, wiping his eyes. He looked at me furiously, and I couldn't help but laugh at the sight of him, soaking wet, glaring at me. Soon enough, he joined in my laughter, shaking his head at me. I took my phone out of my pocket and jumped into the water with him. I landed in the water with a splash, revelling in the silence that enveloped me as I went underwater. I had always loved being underwater. I opened my eyes and saw Freddie's legs a few feet away. I swam over to them and grabbed his ankles, yanking him under. I surfaced for air, laughing and wiping my eyes. I saw Freddie's head break the surface where I had pulled him under. He wiped his eyes and shook his head, sending water flying in all directions and making his hair stick up. He swam over to me with an evil grin.

"It's on now, Puckett"

"Bring it, dork"

I don't know how long we stayed in the water, fighting and playing around, dunking and splashing each other. Freddie was actually pretty strong when he chose to fight back, and we were more evenly matched than I would have thought. I was still stronger, but I was also shorter and lighter, which gave Freddie an advantage. When we finally hoisted ourselves back onto the pier, dripping wet and out of breath, the sun had set and the inky sky was scattered with twinkling stars. I picked up my phone and Freddie picked up his camera, and we made our way back towards the truck. I stood dripping in the parking lot, squeezing water out of my hair while Freddie rummaged around in his bags. He surfaced with two towels and handed one to me. I twisted it up and whacked him in the back of the legs before using it to dry off. When we had dried off as much as we could, we put the towels on the seats, got in the truck and headed off to find somewhere to stay for the night. We had only driven a few minutes when I spotted a little bed and breakfast.

"There" I said, pointing. Freddie looked at the B&B before turning and pulling into the parking lot. We unloaded our bags and walked inside. The lobby of the bed and breakfast was done in dark, polished wood and tiny, headache-inducing florals. We traipsed over to the front desk, which was manned by a stern-looking old woman with tight grey curls and horn-rimmed glasses.

"Can I help you?" she said, raising an eyebrow disapprovingly. I can only imagine what we looked like – two unsupervised damp teenagers checking into a bed and breakfast together.

"Yeah" said Freddie, smiling sweetly at the lady. "Can we get a room please?"

"Of course" said the lady, frowning at us once more before turning to her archaic computer. "Room 315 is available"

"Perfect" said Freddie. We paid the lady and headed up the stairs, since this building didn't have an elevator. We reached our room and Freddie unlocked it, swinging the door open.

"Oh my God" we said in perfect unison. Our room was a frilly, floral, Pepto-Bismol coloured nightmare. We walked in, matching expressions of horror, as we looked around the room. Every inch of the room was either the same dark, polished wood as the lobby, or a sickening shade of pink. The fluffy carpet? Pink. The curtains? Pink. The frilly bedspreads on the two single beds? Pink. I dropped my bags on the floor and did a full 360 survey of the room.

"This is disgusting. Why the hell did that lady put us in a vomit coloured room?" I demanded.

"Hey Sam, come here" I heard Freddie say behind me. I turned around to see that Freddie had drawn the curtains to reveal an enormous, glass window-nook thing, and was now kneeling on the (pink) window seat. I walked over and kneeled next to him, and I saw what he was talking about. Our room had a spectacular 180 degree view of the river. I could see the stars sparkling in the sky and reflected in the calm surface of the water. The moon shone brightly, illuminating the water and the pier.

"Wow" I said quietly. We kneeled there side by side for a moment, and then I got up.

"I'm going to have a shower" I announced. I found the bathroom (pink! Surprise, surprise) and shut the door. I turned on the water and took a long, hot shower, letting the heat relax my knotted muscles. I washed my hair meticulously and brushed my teeth, not wanting to get out of the shower. Finally I turned the water off and got out of the shower. I wiped away the steam on the mirror and got dressed for bed. I unlocked the door and went back into the room, my hair wrapped in a towel. Freddie was lying on one of the beds, leaning against the headboard, talking on the phone.

"Yes, mom, we're fine. No, mom, I didn't get carsick. No, mom, we didn't get attacked by hobos"

He saw me emerge from the shower and pointed at the phone, rolling his eyes and shaking his head. He sat there for a good twenty more minutes until he finally convinced his mother that he needed to go. He hung up the phone and shook his head.

"God, she's a nightmare" he muttered, as though talking to himself.

"No argument here" I said. He shook his head and threw the phone on the bed before heading into the bathroom and shutting the door. I dug through Freddie's bag until I found his laptop. I turned it on and was checking my mail when I heard Freddie emerge from the bathroom.

"Hey Freddie, come here and-" I trailed off when I looked up. Freddie was walking towards me wearing nothing but a pair of plaid pajama pants. _Oh my GOD when did Freddie get ripped? _I thought frantically. I let my eyes trail over his sculpted chest, defined biceps and the barest hints of a six pack. His body was perfect. Muscular, but not _too _ripped. He had been drying his hair with a towel and he paused when I stopped talking, his hair sticking up in a million directions.

"Are you okay?" he asked, looking at me suspiciously.

"Yeah, I'm fine" I said, pulling myself together.

"Okay" he said, still looking unconvinced. "What did you want?"

"Oh" I said, struggling to remember what I was going to ask him. "Nothing. Never mind"

"Okay…" he said, throwing the towel over a chair and going over to his bag. He opened it and pulled out a T-shirt, which he put on, and a book. He closed the curtains and turned off the light before walking over to the empty bed, pulling back the covers and getting in. The lamp on the bedside table between the beds cast a soft glow over both of us. Freddie opened his book and began to read. Once I finished checking my mail I turned off Freddie's computer and put it on the floor next to the bed. I then reached over and turned off the lamp, plunging the room into darkness.

"Uh, okay" I heard Freddie say. I heard him drop the book on the floor, and then the sheets rustled as he got comfortable.

"Good night, Sam"

"Night, dork"


	5. Chapter 5: Emails

**Thanks for all the reviews so far, they are why I write these things. Keep on reviewin', por favor! **

Freddie's POV

What's that noise? I opened my eyes blearily and yawned, looking around. Ah, my phone. I had set the alarm last night. I grabbed it and turned off the alarm, rubbing my eyes and yawning again.

"Sam" I said, my voice groggy. "Sam, wake up"

I turned to look at Sam, who was curled up in her bed, still sleeping. I got out of bed, stretched, and was about to wake her up when I stopped. She looked so peaceful. I smiled and grabbed my towel off the chair, deciding to let her sleep while I had a shower. I showered quickly, brushed my teeth and got dressed before padding back into the room. Sam was still curled up on her side, frowning slightly in her sleep. I walked over to her and gently shook her shoulder.

"Sam, wake up"

She opened one eye and looked at me.

"Morning" I said cheerfully.

She groaned and rolled over, pulling the covers over her head.

"Sam get up, we need to get going. Besides, breakfast finishes in…an hour" I said, looking at my watch. At the sound of the word 'breakfast' Sam sat straight up. Her eyes were bleary and her curls were everywhere and there was a deep crease in her cheek from the sheet where she had been lying.

"Go shower" I instructed. She got out of bed and stretched before grabbing her towel off the floor and some clothes out of her bag and shuffling into the bathroom. While she was showering I gathered the few possessions that had scattered across the room and packed them away. When Sam came out of the bathroom showered and dressed, I had everything ready and we left the horrible pink room. We put our stuff in the truck and then came back for breakfast. It was mediocre, but it was free, and we both ate enthusiastically. Fed and caffeinated, we walked back to the truck and began another long day of driving. I put on my seatbelt, goaded Sam into doing the same, and texted my mom before we set off. We encountered little traffic until we reached the highway, and even then the traffic was fairly light. We drove with the windows down, letting the breeze into the truck. Sam sat with her feet propped on the dashboard and her head against the door, facing the open window. The sun shone on her face and the wind whipped her curls around haphazardly. She closed her eyes and gave a little hum of contentment, smiling slightly. We drove in silence for a while until Sam turned to face me.

"Antibacterial underpants or tick bath?" she said with a smirk. This was a game we played often, and I considered the question.

"Antibacterial underpants. Less embarrassing" I decided. "Ham or bacon?"

"Ooh, tough one, Fredward" she furrowed her brow. "Ham. I could always shove it in a pan and pretend its bacon. Eating shaving cream or sitting in a tub full of sour milk?"

"Sitting in a tub full of sour milk. Smelly, but not poisonous. Kissing Nevel or licking Gibby's back?"

"Kissing Nevel. You never said where, so I'd kiss his finger or something"

"Clever"

"I know. Eating Carly's toenail clipping or letting a camel pee on your chest?"

We continued in this fashion for a while, bantering back and forth. It was always more fun to play this game with Sam than with Carly, because Carly would just wrinkle her nose and exclaim "Ew! Neither!" whenever you gave her a gross choice. Sam, however, had no such qualms, and I found myself giving such revolting ultimatums that I had to wonder where I was getting these ideas from. We drove and drove, the traffic light, until I realized that I needed gas. I turned off the highway to the nearest gas station, and while I was filling up, Sam went into the gas station to buy herself food. I finished filling up the truck and waited for Sam to return. Soon enough, she came back with a plastic bag full of food. She got into the truck and immediately began rummaging around inside the bag, pulling out a package of Fat Cakes and a bottle of root beer. I pulled out of the gas station and drove back to the highway as Sam chowed down on her unhealthy mid-morning snack. To my utter astonishment, she reached into the bag and pulled out a two litre bottle of water.

"I figured we'd get thirsty along the way" she said, putting the bottle between us. I was surprised not only that she had thought so far ahead, but that she actually bought water and not something sugary and fizzy. She finished her snack and pulled my PearPod out of her pocket, putting the ear buds into her ears and settling into her seat. She stared out the window as she listened to music, leaving me to my own thoughts. I drove and drove, the view from my window a blur as I passed cars and buildings and trees. It was almost one thirty when Sam pulled the ear buds out of her ears.

"I'm hungry" she announced. I turned into the nearest restaurant, a small café with a few tables outside. We went in and bought lunch, deciding to take advantage of the air-conditioning and sit inside. We were both hungry, so we bolted down our food without much conversation. We finished and Sam leaned back in her chair, sighing happily and burping loudly. We were done eating, but neither of us particularly wanted to get back in the truck and drive some more, so we lingered as long as we could. Eventually the waitress began giving us the evil eye, and I shepherded Sam out before they got into a fight. We got back into the car and kept driving. Sam once again put in the earphones, and soon enough she fell asleep. I kept driving, trying to ignore the cramps in my legs from sitting down for so long. The hours melted together into one endless blur of scenery and cars flashing past my window. Sam eventually woke up, and although I was desperate to talk to someone, even if it was Sam, I knew that she took a while to wake up fully, so I kept my mouth shut. I saw a road sign directing us to the next stop, and I turned off the highway. The sun was slowly beginning to go down, and the light was no longer the bright light of afternoon, but the dusky light of early evening. I saw a sign that read 'Welcome to Hunter's Ridge- Population 2,642'

"Why do you keep picking the tiniest little hick towns to stay in?" Sam complained.

"Cause they're cheaper" I explained, looking for somewhere to stay. I caught sight of a motel and turned in. I parked the truck and Sam and I got out, unloading our bags again and heading into the lobby. We checked in and took the elevator up to our room. We found the room and paused outside the door.

"Let's hope this room is better than the last one" I said, shuddering at the memory of all that pink.

"Anything would be better than that one" Sam said, unlocking the door. She pushed it open, and we both gave a sigh of relief. The room was small, but decorated in navy and white. Much more tolerable than the last room. We dropped our bags in the middle of the floor and surveyed the room.

"Dinner?" I suggested.

"You know it" Sam answered, bounding to the door. I followed her and shut the door behind me, Sam bouncing impatiently as I locked it. We left the motel and walked down the street. The sun had almost completely set, but the sky wasn't black yet, but instead a deep blue. We wandered down the street, looking for somewhere to eat. Suddenly Sam stopped in her tracks, sniffing.

"Do you smell that?"

I stopped, sniffing the air.

"No" I said, confused. "What is it?"

"Meat" answered Sam. She sniffed again. "This way"

I followed her, and after a few feet I began to smell the faintest hints of barbecue. Sam followed her nose, and the smell grew stronger, making my mouth water. Soon enough we stumbled upon a small outdoor barbecue restaurant, just a shack with a few tables and a grill outside.

"Impressive" I told Sam. "You're like a bloodhound or something"

"Mama knows her meat"

We ate dinner, stuffing ourselves until we both had to loosen our belts. We paid and made our way back to the motel, both of us getting tired. We arrive at our room and I called the shower first.

"Whatever nub" came Sam's reply. I gathered my stuff and went into the bathroom. I was showering when I heard a knock on the bathroom door.

"Freddie?"

"Yeah?"

"I need to pee"

"Can't you wait?"

"Not unless you want my bladder to explode. Shut the curtain, I'm coming in"

"Sam-" I began to protest, but she had already opened the door. I stuck my head around the curtain.

"Sam, what are you doing?"

She looked at me.

"I need to pee, so stay on the other side of that curtain unless you want to wake up tomorrow with no eyebrows"

I brought my head back into the shower, inwardly marvelling at Sam's boldness. Even over the running water I could hear Sam peeing, and then I heard the toilet flush. I heard the bathroom door open, and I stuck my head around the curtain again.

"Sam!"

She paused, halfway out the door.

"What?"

"Wash your hands!"

She rolled her eyes at me, but came back into the bathroom and washed her hands.

"Happy?" she asked, drying them on a towel.

"Yes" I said, mimicking her sarcastic tone. She rolled her eyes again before leaving the bathroom, closing the door behind her. I finished showering and put on my pajamas before walking back into the bedroom. Sam was sitting on the bed with my laptop. She looked up when she heard me open the door.

"Finally" she said, hopping up. "You take so long to shower, nub. You're like a girl"

I ignored that jibe and took Sam's spot on the bed in front of the laptop. She had been checking her mail, and her inbox was still open. I was about to close it and check my own mail when something caught my eye. The email that Sam had been reading when she got up was still open, and I saw that it was from Carly. I hadn't spoken to her since she left for her program, and I was wondering how it was going. Looking to make sure that Sam was in the shower, and feeling incredibly guilty, I began to read.

_From: Carly Shay _

_To: Sam Puckett _

_Subject: hey_

_Hey Sam_

_I don't have much time, but I thought I would send you a quick email between activities. The program is amazing, I have met so many awesome people and I am having so much fun and learning a lot. I miss you though! Life just isn't the same without my crazy bestie ;) How are you doing? Have you killed Freddie yet? Please at least try to be nice. I know you don't like him, but give him a break. Damn, I have to go now, I have a lecture on the other side of campus in five minutes._

_I love you!_

_Carly xx_

_From: Sam Puckett _

_To: Carly Shay _

_Subject: Re: hey_

_hey carls, how goes it? i'm glad you're having fun, even if you did abandon me with only my sister and the nub for company. thanks for that. in response to your question, no, I haven't killed freddie. yet. then again, it is only the beginning of summer, so give it some time. don't be surprised if you return home to find a fredward cadaver ;) nah, i'm kidding. i won't kill him. i have no desire to spend my summer in juvie. whats the point of doing time if you don't even get to miss any school? ugh, melanie just got home. that means that I will be going now. I miss you lots, cupcake._

_sam_

_From: Carly Shay _

_To: Sam Puckett _

_Subject: Re:Re:hey_

_Oh, Sam, don't make me feel even worse than I already do. Because believe me, I feel terrible for leaving you and Freddie home all summer and for making us stop iCarly for the summer. Especially the iCarly part. It feels weird to not do iCarly every week, doesn't it? Sam. Promise me you'll at least make an effort to be nice to Freddie this summer. Well, I know what not insulting Freddie does to you, but at least try to lay off the physical violence? And maybe ease up on the emotional attacks? Freddie has never done anything to you (except chain you to Gibby, and we all know how that ended) so I really don't understand why you have to pick on him like you do. As for Melanie, give her a break. She's really sweet (although I know that sickens you haha) and two months with her won't kill you. I have to run again, I swear I barely have time to breathe._

_I miss you, and I have so much to tell you. Especially about Jackson ;)_

_Carly xx_

_From: Sam Puckett _

_To: Carly Shay _

_Subject: Re:Re:Re:hey_

_sorry carls, i didn't mean to make you feel bad. summer so far hasn't actually been all that bad, despite the fact that i have been spending almost every day with freddie. It was either freddie or melanie, and i have decided that freddie is less infuriating than melanie. also, i can hit freddie if he really starts to piss me off :D nah, i'm kidding, it hasn't actually been as painful as i was expecting. dont tell anyone i said this, but maybe freddie isn't so . what's wrong with me? i think spending every day with the dork is turning my brain to mush._

_i cant wait until you come home! i miss you_

_sam_

_p.s. who's jackson? is he a babe? whoever he is, he's gotta be better than your last boyfriend ;)_

I sat there staring at the screen, rereading the emails. I fluctuated between offended and touched as I read through the exchange. Offended at Sam's remarks about me, and touched that Carly cared enough to try and get her to stop. Touched at Sam's admission that I'm 'not so bad' and offended at the comment that this Jackson person has to be better than Carly's last boyfriend (me). I heard the bathroom door open and I quickly exited Sam's inbox and began checking my own email. Sam emerged from the bathroom, her hair wrapped in a towel.

"Off my bed, dork" she commanded.

"One sec" I said. I finished checking my mail and got off her bed. I went into the bathroom and brushed my teeth, not really paying attention to what I was doing. I finished brushing my teeth and walked back into the bedroom, flicking off the bathroom light. Sam turned on the lamp between our beds and I turned off the bedroom light before grabbing my book out of my bag and getting into bed. I tried to read, but I kept covertly glancing at Sam, who was on the computer again. Did she know that I had read her emails? What did her emails even mean? She finished what she was doing on the computer and turned it off, leaning over the side of the bed and putting it on the floor. She unwrapped her hair from the towel, letting her damp curls tumble over her shoulders. She pulled her hair back and deftly French plaited it, pulling a hair tie off her wrist with her teeth to secure it at the ends. Once she was finished she slid down under the covers. I put my book down, not able to really focus on what I was reading, and turned off the light.

"Night Sam"

"Night dork"

I tried to go to sleep, but my mind was churning. Soon enough Sam's breathing became steady, telling me that she was asleep. I eventually managed to drift off into a restless sleep, filled with weird dreams.


	6. Chapter 6: Two Is Better Than One

**Review please? Pretty please? They make me so happy.**

Sam's POV

"Sam, wake up"

I heard Freddie's voice softly urging me to get up. I groaned and rolled over, not wanting to wake up. I felt a poke in my shoulder.

"Sam, get up, we need to get going"

I groaned again and pulled the covers over my head. I heard a sigh of resignation.

"Get up and I shall buy you bacon"

I sat bolt upright in bed. What's better than bacon? That's right, bacon that you don't have to buy yourself. I dragged myself out of bed and shuffled into the bathroom. I emerged clean, teeth brushed, dressed, and feeling marginally more awake. Freddie had already packed everything up and was waiting for me. When he saw me he handed me my bag and gestured for me to lead the way. We made our way to the truck, shoving our bags in before sitting down and putting on our seatbelts.

"So where's the bacon?" I asked.

"I dunno. There must be a breakfast place around here somewhere" Freddie answered, starting the car. He pulled out of the motel parking lot and onto the street, looking for somewhere that we could eat.

"There" I said, spotting a Denny's and pointing. Freddie turned into the parking lot and we got out. I ran inside, shoving aside the waitress in my way and sitting in a booth. Freddie followed me in, helping the waitress to her feet and apologizing profusely for me. Like I cared who I knock over. In the quest for bacon, there are bound to be casualties. He sat opposite me and said nothing, just shook his head at me and opened his menu. After a hearty, bacon-filled breakfast we got back into the truck and headed off. The days were beginning to fall into a pattern now. We would set off and Freddie and I would talk, or I would listen to music. Then we would stop for lunch, and occasionally gas, and when we got back in the truck I would take a nap. Today was no different. I woke up from my nap relatively early today, and Freddie wisely said nothing until I was fully awake. Then, energized and refreshed from my nap, I chatted with Freddie for a while. We talked about everything – iCarly, socks, meat, school, MMA. It was becoming easier and easier to talk to Freddie since we began spending more time together and we found out that we had more in common than we thought. Before, Freddie and I would chat every so often, but about meaningless crap. Now, we had more serious conversations, about things like family. The family we had, the family we wanted. We talked and talked, and when I looked at the time, I found myself wondering how I could talk to one person for so long, let alone Freddie. But strangely, it felt like we had been talking for ten minutes. As the light began to fade we turned into Maple Falls, another hick town. We found a motel and pulled into the parking lot. As I got out, I noticed that although it was late afternoon and the sun was going down, it was excruciatingly hot and humid. With the air conditioner on in Freddie's truck, I hadn't noticed the inferno outside.

"Whew" I heard Freddie say as he shut the door. "When did it get so hot and sticky?"

"Seriously" I answered, fanning myself.

We hurried into the cool air conditioning of the motel lobby and checked in. We dropped our bags in our room before turning around and going to find dinner. Since it was so hot we drove to the nearest burger joint and all but ran inside. The restaurant was full of people, not all of them eating. I got the distinct impression that these people were here to take advantage of the air conditioning. We bought food and found an empty table, where we scarfed down dinner. When we finished we lingered, not wanting to leave the cool restaurant. Eventually we pulled ourselves away and back to the truck, where we drove to the motel with the A/C on full blast. We went up to our room and I called the shower first, grabbing pajamas before disappearing into the bathroom. I took a long, cool shower before reluctantly putting on my pajamas, which unfortunately, were long pants. _At least the tank top is sleeveless _I thought. I went into the bedroom and Freddie went into the bathroom. As I walked into the bedroom I noticed that it was disgustingly hot. I went over to the air conditioning unit and stood under it. Even though I was right under it, I could barely feel anything. I found the remote and turned the air conditioning as cold as it would go, and that made a slight difference, but not much. I wrenched open the windows, but there was no breeze. The trees outside the window were completely still, not even a quivering leaf. I heard Freddie emerge from the bathroom and I turned to face him.

"Freddie" I whined. "The A/C is being retarded"

"Is it not getting very cold?" he asked. I shook my head.

"Probably because it's so hot, so every room has their A/C on full blast"

"I don't care why" I snapped. "Just fix it before I melt"

"I can't do anything about it" he said apologetically.

I fumed for a minute before realizing that getting angry wouldn't fix the air conditioning, so I was stuck in a furnace for the night. I walked away from the window and pulled off my pajama pants, stepping out of them and kicking them aside.

"Sam!" Freddie shouted, sounding scandalized. He turned away from me, covering his eyes. "What are you doing?"

"Oh, grow up Fredward" I said condescendingly. "You've seen me in a swimsuit, haven't you? How is this any different?"

He stopped shielding his eyes and faced me, and I could see him finding the logic in what I just said. He pulled off his shirt and tossed it aside, exposing his beautiful body. He then pulled off his own pajama pants and kicked them aside.

"We're just in swimsuits" I heard him mutter under his breath. "Just swimsuits"

"You're such a nerd" I said, rolling my eyes. I stopped suddenly as the gravity of the situation hit me. I was sharing a room with Fredward Benson. I was wearing underwear and a tank top, and he was wearing boxers. And that was it.

"By the way, dork" I said menacingly. "If you _ever _tell _anyone_ about this…" I trailed off suggestively.

"Understood" he said, gulping.

We sat there in uncomfortable silence for a minute before Freddie grabbed his pants.

"This is too weird" he said, pulling them on and rolling legs of the pants up to his knees.

"You need to grow up" I said, secretly glad that he had put his pants back on.

I plopped onto one bed and spread myself as far as I could across the mattress. Freddie turned off the light and got into the other bed.

"Night Sam"

"Night"

The next day passed as the others had. Freddie tried unsuccessfully to wake me up, finally got me out of bed with the promise of food, I had a shower and emerged to find Freddie packed. We checked out, ate breakfast and began to drive, stopping for gas and lunch. I napped after lunch and when I woke up, Freddie and I talked and I listened to music. As the daylight began to fade we pulled into another town, this one called Greenborough – population 1, 723. We once again found a motel and checked in, dropping off our stuff before we went to find a place to eat. We ate at a small café and decided to go for a walk, since it was still early. We wandered down the street, looking around. The town was really very pretty, with trees and flowers everywhere. We stumbled upon a pond with benches around it, and we sat down. The sky was beginning to turn purple and pink as the sun set, and the first stars could be seen twinkling. I looked around at the other benches. I could see a couple of teenagers making out on one bench, and a young couple in their twenties sitting, the woman's head on the man's shoulder. I saw a couple in their thirties, each with a child on their lap, feeding the ducks that were scattered all over the pond. Next to them, I saw an elderly couple, sitting holding hands. As I watched, the man brought their intertwined hands to his lips and kissed the back of the woman's hand. Everyone around me was in love, it seemed, and I was here with Freddie. _Maybe it's a sign _a voice in the back of my head told me. I looked across at Freddie. His face had a pinkish purple glow from the sunset and he was gazing across the pond with a faraway look in his eyes. In his lap was the bag containing his leftover food. I grabbed it, causing him to snap back to reality.

"How can you still be hungry?" he asked me in amazement.

"It's not for me" I said witheringly.

"Well then, who's it for?"

"Them" I said, pointing at a cluster of ducks that was making their way over to our bench. He smiled and held out his hand. I placed a fry in his palm and took one for myself. I broke off a piece and chucked it at the ducks, who responded by lunging at it in a frenzy of flapping wings. I broke off another piece and threw it into the group of ducks, and Freddie did the same. We fed the ducks until we ran out of food, then I balled up the paper bag and chucked it on the grass, getting up.

"Let's go, Fredward"

Freddie picked up the bag and got to his feet, dropping the bag in a trash can as we walked back towards the main road. We made our way back to the motel, chatting the whole way. When we reached the motel I collapsed on my bed, staring up at the ceiling. I heard Freddie tell me he was going to take a shower, and I sat up.

"Don't take forever like you normally do"

He rolled his eyes at me and disappeared into the bathroom with an armful of stuff. I grabbed his PearPod and opened the sliding glass doors that led onto the tiny balcony that was attached to our room. I sat on one of the two wooden chairs and turned on the PearPod, putting the earphones in my ears and picking a song. As I listened to music (Freddie had surprisingly good taste) I watched the people and the cars on the street below me, lost in thought. Suddenly, I felt a tap on the shoulder. I turned around to see Freddie standing behind me in pajamas, his hair wet and sticking up in all directions. I took the earphones out and shoved the PearPod at him before grabbing my stuff and going into the bathroom. I showered quickly and got dressed in my pajamas, pulling my wet hair back into a French plait. I opened the bathroom door and was walking out when something stopped me in my tracks. Music. I could hear someone playing a guitar. I looked around and saw that Freddie's guitar case was lying on one of the beds, open and empty. I listened to the faint music, trying to discern where it was coming from. I padded quietly over to the sliding glass door that led onto the balcony. Freddie was sitting on one of the chairs, playing his guitar softly. I stood and watched him as he strummed. Suddenly he began to play a new song, one that I recognized and loved. I tiptoed closer as he began to sing in a low, surprisingly good voice.

_I remember what you wore on the first day_

_You came into my life and I thought "Hey, you know, this could be something"_

_Cause everything you do and words you say_

_You know that it all takes my breath away and now I'm left with nothing._

I walked forward so that I was standing in the doorway, and before I could stop myself, I joined in.

_So maybe it's true that I can't live without you _I sang along. Freddie whipped his head around at the sound of my voice, but he didn't stop playing, just smiled as he sang.

_And maybe two is better than one_

_But there's so much time to figure out the rest of my life_

_And you've already got me coming undone_

_And I'm thinking two is better than one._

I edged past him and sat on the other chair, facing him.

_I remember every look upon your face _I sang.

_The way you roll your eyes, the way you taste _

_You make it hard for breathing._ Freddie sang back, smiling.

_Cause when I close my eyes and drift away _we sang together.

_I think of you and everything's okay_

_I'm finally now believing_

_That maybe it's true that I can't live without you_

_And maybe two is better than one_

_But there's so much time to figure out the rest of my life_

_And you've already got me coming undone_

_And I'm thinking two is better than one._

Freddie strummed furiously, closing his eyes and getting lost in the music.

_I remember what you wore on the first day_

_You came into my life and I thought "Hey" _he sang softly.

_Maybe it's true that I can't live without you _we sang with increasing intensity, staring into each other's eyes.

_And maybe two is better than one._

_But there's so much time to figure out the rest of my life_

_And you've already got me coming undone_

_And I'm thinking ooh I can't live without you_

_Cause baby two is better than one_

_There's so much time to figure out the rest of my life_

_But I figured out when all is said and done_

_Two is better than one_

_Two is better than one_

Freddie strummed the last note, letting it fade into the darkness. We both stared at each other, out of breath from the intensity with which we had been singing. Freddie was looking at me like he was seeing me for the first time. Neither of us said anything, but this silence was nothing like our usual comfortable silence. This silence was electrified, as though there were a million invisible sparks in the air making my every nerve ending do a dance. The longer we said nothing, the more intense the silence became, until it was unbearable.

"Wow Fredward" I said. "You're not bad"

He broke the eye contact and looked into his lap.

"Thanks" he said, still not looking up. "I didn't know you could sing like that. You're amazing, Sam"

"I know" I said with a smirk, trying to lighten the atmosphere and bring some semblance of normality to the situation. "Mama's got pipes, eh?"

I got up and walked into the bedroom. As I walked away I heard Freddie say something to himself under his breath.

"I didn't just mean the singing"


	7. Chapter 7:Thunderstorm

**Thanks for all the reviews. Keep on reviewing if you love me :) And one of you mentioned that the last chapter was a bit fluffy. I completely agree, to be honest, but I secretly like a little bit of fluff. Shh ;)**

Freddie's POV

I watched Sam disappear through the door and into the bedroom, then sat back in my chair and pondered what the hell had just happened. Nobody had ever heard me play – or sing – other than my guitar teacher. That was why I had waited until Sam went in the shower, cause I didn't want her to viciously rip on my playing. I'd only been learning for a year or so, but my teacher said I was a natural, and I was constantly finding tabs on the internet for songs I liked and teaching them to myself. I missed playing. I played every day since I started lessons, and it had become a huge part of who I was, and during the past couple of days I had really missed it. When I had picked up my guitar I actually breathed an audible sigh of relief. Putting my hand on the neck felt like I had been holding my breath and I finally breathed in. I went out onto the balcony, which I figured was my best chance of Sam not hearing me. Unfortunately I forgot to close the door, so that plan didn't work too well, but whatever. I had been just strumming, getting the feel of playing again and doing a couple chord changes to warm up, when I had an idea. I had been learning this song for about a week, and I figured I would practice. I began to play, singing along softly so Sam wouldn't hear. Then, as I reached the chorus, I heard someone singing the female part. Someone with an unbearably sweet voice. Something inside me made me keep playing and singing, but I whipped my head around and saw Sam standing in the doorway, singing along. She squeezed past me and sat on the other chair, our knees brushing, and we sang the song together, increasing in intensity until we were both singing at the top of our lungs and I was playing my guitar harder than I ever had in my life. We finished the song, panting from the intensity of our singing, and looked at each other. Sam was looking at me almost shyly, the overhead balcony light illuminating her smooth skin and shining on her blond curls. We sat there in silence, but it was a different kind of silence than anything I had ever experienced. It was charged, and I suddenly understood the expression 'sparks flew', because that's what it felt like. Like there were sparks in the air between us. We looked into each other's eyes and I wanted nothing more than to kiss her, right here on this tiny balcony.

"Wow, Fredward" Sam said, breaking the magical silence. "You're not bad"

I looked down into my lap, trying to hide my disappointment that Sam wasn't feeling what I was feeling.

"Thanks" I said. "I didn't know you could sing like that" I told her, looking into her eyes again. "You're amazing, Sam" I blurted before I could stop myself.

"I know" she said, smirking at me, her trademark smirk. "Mama's got pipes, eh?"

She turned and walked through the door into the bedroom.

"I didn't just mean the singing" I said to myself, looking down at my guitar again. I got up and followed Sam inside, closing the door behind me. Sam was lying on one of the beds listening to my PearPod and staring up at the ceiling. I went into the bathroom and brushed my teeth, thinking about Sam the whole time. I returned to the bedroom distractedly and flopped down on the empty bed, looking up at the ceiling, hoping to find some kind of advice in the peeling white paint. At that point I guess Sam turned off the light, because the room was plunged into darkness.

"Night Freddie"

"Huh?" I asked, still distracted. "Oh. Night Sam"

I tossed and turned fitfully that night, unable to get to sleep with my mind churning. I eventually drifted off, and it felt like I had been sleeping for ten minutes when the alarm on my phone went off. I turned it off with a groan, exhausted but confident in the knowledge that I wouldn't be able to get back to sleep so there was no point hitting the snooze button. I dragged myself to the shower like a zombie, performing my morning rituals on autopilot. Like every morning before, I woke Sam up when I came out of the shower, and packed up while she was in the bathroom. When she appeared, I wordlessly handed her bag over and gestured for her to lead the way out of the room. We found breakfast in a tiny café, and I drank about eight cups of coffee, hoping that the caffeine would keep me awake. If I fell asleep at the wheel I would never live it down (if I lived at all).

"What up with all the coffee, Fredward?" Sam asked, eyeing me suspiciously.

"I didn't sleep well last night, and I am so tired" I explained, yawning. "Hopefully the caffeine will keep me awake so I don't fall asleep driving and crash my car. That would suck"

"That would suck" she agreed. Suddenly her eyes lit up. "Hey, why don't I drive?"

"You?" I said, raising an eyebrow at her. "Yeah, that'll happen"

"Why not, nub?" she said, reaching across the table to shove me. "I'm a great driver"

"Four driving instructors, two dented cars, endless scratches and your lack of a drivers licence would disagree"

She rolled her eyes at me.

"Whatever. Besides, I think I would do a better job not crashing than you would when you're asleep"

"No chance you are getting behind the wheel of my car. Sorry"

"Fine" she pouted. We paid for our breakfast and went out to the truck. I reached into my pocket for the keys as we walked, but they weren't there. I grabbed Sam's arm to stop her.

"Sam, give me my keys"

"What are you talking about?" she asked, feigning innocence.

"Give. Them. To. Me"

She gave a little roar of frustration and threw the keys at me. We walked the rest of the distance to the truck. We got in and I started the car, dreading the day ahead. I drove on autopilot, not really thinking about what I was doing. Fortunately I had been driving long enough that I did it automatically, and I didn't have to think _indicate, turn, brake._ Sam listened to my PearPod all morning, knowing that I was too tired to have an actual conversation. She tried a few times, but my grunts and one word answers frustrated her, so she sat there moodily listening to music. Eventually the caffeine kicked in and I began to feel almost human again. Once I was marginally more awake (God bless coffee) I began to think about the night before. There was something between us, I just knew it. It couldn't have been my imagination, there _had _to be something. But Sam had acted totally normal, like she felt nothing. Either she was pretending or it was all in my head. _It can't have been in my head_ I told myself. _The chemistry was almost tangible, and you can't make something like that up _I tried to reason. _Maybe there was chemistry for you, but that doesn't mean there was chemistry for her _a voice inside my head pointed out. _She acted totally normal, like nothing was wrong. Yeah, but she's a great actress, you know that _I told myself. I argued back and forth with myself in this fashion until Sam announced that she was hungry. I turned into the nearest burger joint and we ate lunch. Rather, I picked at my fries and Sam ate both our burgers and her fries. When we were finished we got back in the truck and I kept driving while Sam took a nap. I had been driving for five minutes when the caffeine began to wear off and I got more and more tired. Eventually I got too tired to drive, so I pulled into a mall parking lot and parked the truck in the shade. I then put my seat back and was about to lie back, but then I thought about it, grabbed the keys and put them in my pants so that Sam wouldn't hijack my truck if she woke up before me. I lay down and fell asleep straight away. I slept soundly and when I woke up I felt refreshed and ready to keep driving. Sam was still sleeping, and I extracted the keys from my pants and started the car, continuing on my journey. About ten minutes later Sam woke up, yawning and stretching in her seat. She looked over at me, rubbing her eyes.

"Are you still miserable and cranky?"

"Nope, all better" I said, laughing.

We chatted for ages, laughing at stupid things and generally having a good time until Sam decided that she was hungry.

"Why haven't you reached the next hick town yet?" she asked, looking out the window. "It's almost dark"

"Yeah, I kinda had a nap on the way" I said sheepishly. "Sorry"

"Well, how much longer?" she asked. I looked at a sign outside that gave the distance to the town we were staying in, and quickly did the mental math.

"Half an hour?" I said. "Forty minutes tops"

"But I'm hungry" she whined. Without taking my eyes off the road I reached back with one hand and found the stash of Fat Cakes I had hidden to placate Sam if she got violent. I threw a few packages at her and she ripped one open, eating the Fat Cakes with indecent enthusiasm. About thirty five minutes later I turned into the tiny town of St George Heights. I turned into the nearest motel and we headed into the lobby.

"We only have one room left" the lady behind the desk told us.

"Cool, we'll take it" I said. She gave me the key card and we made our way to the elevator. We reached our room and I opened the door, freezing as it swung open. There, in the middle of the room, was a bed. _A _bed. As in, one. I stood in the doorway, frozen. Sam pushed me inside.

"What is your deal, nub?" she said, shoving past me and dropping her bags on the floor. I pointed at the bed.

"One bed"

She looked at the bed and I saw her eyes widen slightly.

"I'll sleep on the floor" I offered.

"Grow up, nub" she said contemptuously, rolling her eyes. "It'll be fine, just don't spoon me in the middle of the night"

"I'll try my hardest" I said sarcastically.

"Now let's go get food" Sam said. "I've been craving shrimp all day"

We went back to the truck and Sam made me drive a good twenty five minutes until we found a seafood restaurant. Sam satisfied her shrimp craving in a big way and I had some sort of crab something. We got back into the truck and began to drive back to the hotel. On the way back it began to rain, a proper downpour that thundered against the roof of the truck. I pulled into the parking lot of the motel and we sat there for a moment, debating whether to wait the rain out or make a run for it. Suddenly, Sam opened the door of the truck and hopped out, slamming it behind her. I thought she was going to dash through the rain to the motel, but instead she stood in the middle of the parking lot with her arms outspread and her face up to the sky. She began to twirl, her wet hair flying around her as she spun, laughing. I sat there in the truck, watching Sam dance in the rain, completely mesmerized. She stopped spinning and looked at me before skipping over to my window and rapping on it with her knuckles. She mimed for me to roll it down, and I shook my head. She rolled her eyes at me, and then beckoned for me to join her. I once again shook my head and she shrugged as if to say _your loss _and skipped away. I sat there for a moment, watching Sam as she played in the rain. She was laughing and even through the sheet of rain I could see the pure, unadulterated joy on her face. People tended to think that Sam was childish and immature, and they were mostly right. But you know what? Maybe Sam had it right. Once people grew up, they got so caught up in their own petty troubles that they forgot about the simple joys of life. Sam, however, still knew how to find happiness in the small things, and I thought that maybe we could learn from her. With that I grabbed my camera (fortunately waterproof) and went out into the rain. It was colder than I expected, making me shiver as the first drops hit me. Sam still didn't know I was out of the truck, and I hid behind it, watching her. I began to take photos of Sam playing in the rain, her arms outstretched, twirling and dancing and jumping. Suddenly she caught sight of a huge puddle underneath a streetlight, and I could see the mischievous look on her face as she ran towards it. She was running right at me, and I could see her eyes sparkling as she brought her knees up and splashed into the puddle, sending water flying everywhere. I snapped a shot right as she landed in the puddle, and I was about to look at it when Sam saw me. I quickly put the camera in the truck as she skipped towards me.

"Come on, nub" she said, grabbing my hand and pulling me into the middle of the mostly empty parking lot. She let go of my hand and continued dancing in the rain, spinning and leaping like she was on drugs. When she saw that I was just standing there watching her, she grabbed my hand again and pulled me into a reluctant jig, leaping and twirling and jumping. We must have looked insane, two teenagers in a motel parking lot in a torrential downpour, dancing what must have appeared to be some kind of tribal rain dance, but I didn't care. I was having more fun than I had had in a long time. Sam and I were laughing uncontrollably as we jumped around together, and I don't know what made me do it, but I grabbed her by the waist and we began to spin. She spread her arms out and leaned back, letting the rain fall on her face and throat, and we spun and spun and spun until we collapsed in a fit of dizziness. We lay in the parking lot laughing, and I revelled in the feel of the raindrops hitting my face. When the dizziness had passed I got up and offered a hand to Sam, hoisting her onto her feet. Suddenly a bolt of lightning illuminated the sky, followed almost immediately by a deafening clap of thunder. I reflexively dropped to the floor, covering my head with my hands. Even over the rain I could hear Sam laughing at me. I leapt to my feet and grabbed her wrist, dragging her inside. As we reached the awning that covered the door, we passed a girl who looked about nine. She was standing under the awning with her parents, who were obviously debating how best to get to their car. They decided to run for it, and as the girl ran past us she suddenly stopped, turned back and thrust something into my hand with a smile before running into the darkness with her parents. I looked and saw that it was a disposable camera. _Weird _I thought, but I continued into the reception area. As we traipsed through the lobby, dripping wet, I could almost feel the disapproval emanating from the other occupants of the motel. We made it up to our room and Sam called the shower, grabbing her stuff and disappearing. I looked again at the disposable camera that the girl had given me. It was just an average, waterproof disposable camera that you can get at a drugstore. I wondered why she gave it to me, then shrugged and threw it onto the bedside table. Sam came out of the shower with wet hair, but in dry clothes. I headed in to take a shower, and when I came out of the bathroom, Sam was nowhere to be seen. I soon saw her sitting on the teeny balcony that was attached to our room. She was sitting on a chair pushed back against the wall, hugging her knees. As I got closer, I saw that she was wearing one of my sweatshirts. I went to tell her to come out of the rain when I noticed that the rain was falling diagonally at such an angle that Sam was perfectly dry. She sat curled up on her chair, watching the lightning that forked across the sky. I walked onto the balcony and sat next to her, and we watched the lightning in silence.

"I've always loved thunderstorms" she finally said, not taking her eyes off the horizon. Another bolt of lightning flashed across the sky, illuminating her face in pure, white light. I waited for the accompanying clap of thunder to pass before I answered.

"I've never been a fan of thunderstorms. I mean, I love them, but whenever there's a thunderstorm my mom makes me sit in my room wearing far too much rubber so I won't get electrocuted. So, you know, I've learned to dread them. I love the actual thunderstorms, but I'm not big on the whole trapped-in-my-room-wearing-a-rubber-suit thing"

Sam laughed under her breath. We watched in silence for a while longer before I realized that I hadn't called my mom, and she was probably freaking out. I disappeared inside to call her, and I spent the whole conversation sitting on the bed looking at Sam. When I finally managed to get my mom off the phone forty five minutes later ("Yes, mom, we're fine. No, we aren't going to get electrocuted. Yes, I wish I had packed my rubber suit as well") I was tired and ready for bed. I walked over to the balcony and stuck my head outside.

"Sam, I'm going to bed"

"Yeah, I'm coming" she said, getting up and following me inside, shutting the balcony door behind her.

"Nice sweatshirt, by the way"

"Thanks. It's really comfy, I don't think you're getting it back"

I got into bed, snuggling under the covers. That's another reason I loved thunderstorms. Perfect sleeping weather. Sam got into bed next to me and I turned off the light, trying my hardest not to think of Sam mere inches away, in the dark, in the same bed.

"Night, Sam"

"Night"


	8. Chapter 8: Fireworks

**Wow, guys. Thanks so much for those reviews. They give me a little faith that I'm not a terrible writer haha. Even if you have reviewed before, review again!**

Freddie's POV

The alarm on my phone blared as usual, and I groggily picked it up and turned it off. I slumped back into bed with a yawn, rubbing my eyes before dragging myself out of bed. I shuffled into the shower and emerged feeling much better. I woke Sam up, jostling her shoulder until I heard her groan and she rolled over, putting the pillow over her head.

"Happy 4th of July. Get out of bed" I ordered, grabbing her other pillow and giving her legs a whack with it.

"Is it the 4th today?" she asked, sitting up in bed looking very dishevelled, her curls everywhere.

"Yes it is. Hooray for independent America" I said. "Now go shower"

"Bossy" she said, rolling out of bed and grabbing a handful of clothes. She disappeared into the bathroom and reappeared a few minutes later wearing white shorts, a red and white striped shirt, and navy blue Chucks.

"Very patriotic" I said with a smile, handing over her bag. We left the motel and found breakfast in a small diner before heading out again. We had only been on this road trip for less than a week, but I was already beginning to forget what it felt like to not spend all day driving, and to sleep in the same place two nights in a row. The traffic was terrible since schools and offices were closed, and everybody was going to barbecues and the like. The day was painfully hot and I had the air conditioning on full blast all day sitting in traffic, so I had to stop for gas twice. By time we stopped for lunch both Sam and I were cranky and irritable because of the heat, and hunger, and the frustration of sitting in traffic all morning. We ate in silence, neither of us really in the mood to talk. When we got back in the car, Sam once again fell asleep, curling up on her seat and resting her head on the door. I began to think about the summer, and about Sam and I. Since Carly left and I was the only one left to entertain Sam when she got bored, the two of us had spent almost every day together, and had become surprisingly close in that time. Then Sam had suggested this road trip. I knew how much she missed Carly – Carly was her best friend and basically her only friend, other than me. And Sam needed a girl friend - or should I say that _I _needed Sam to have a girl friend. Since Carly left and I was the only one for Sam to talk to I had been subjected to some of the most hideously embarrassing conversations of my life. Which says a lot, considering who my mother is. A few weeks ago, I would have detested the prospect of spending a week enclosed in a small space with Sam, but I found myself quite excited by the idea when she suggested it. Over the past few days, while Sam and I were on this road trip, we had barely fought, and I found myself liking her more and more. I tried to deny it, because liking Sam could be hazardous to my health, but I couldn't anymore. On top of that, I had a glimmer of hope that maybe Sam liked me too. In the emails, she said that I "wasn't so bad", which doesn't sound like much, but coming from Sam that's like hearing that I am the most fantastic person ever to tread the earth. Besides, if she did like me she would never tell Carly up front, because Carly would stick her nose into the situation and try to get us together, and that would inevitably end in disaster. And I was positive that I hadn't imagined the chemistry between us that night we sang. It was intense, like you could almost reach your hand out and touch it. I liked Sam, and I was growing more confident that she liked me, but I was still too scared to act on my feelings. What if she didn't like me back? Not only would I get grievously injured, it would ruin what Sam and I had, and I didn't want to lose her as a friend. I was used to unreturned love – I had been lusting after Carly for years to no avail, but this was different. Sam was a lot more fragile than Carly when it came to love. Carly was beautiful, and popular, and sweet, and funny and guys followed her like puppies. Sam was just her vicious little sidekick, and being Carly's best friend for so long had really affected her self-esteem. She acted tough, but underneath the bravado I knew that she was desperately lacking in self-confidence. Her lack of experience when it came to love meant that she was a lot more delicate than Carly, and she didn't recover as quickly as Carly did. I would have to tread carefully around Sam, even if she told me that she liked me. So I liked Sam, and maybe she liked me and maybe she didn't, and if she did then she had to tell me because there was no way I would ever tell her first because I didn't know if she liked me or not. I was so screwed.

Sam's POV

I opened my eyes groggily, yawning loudly and stretching my legs out in front of me, pointing my toes. I looked over at Freddie, who was looking ahead at the road. His eyes flicked over to me, then back to the road.

"What up, Fredward?" I asked, my voice thick from sleep.

"Good nap?"

"You know it"

We chatted a bit more about stupid things before lapsing into silence. I took out Freddie's PearPod and put in the earphones. I chose a song at random and turned the volume down so I could think. I was beginning to like the nub, and that was dangerous territory. How could I let myself like _Freddie?_ I mean…it was _Freddie_. He was dorky, and lame, and weird, and… and…kind, and smart, and funny. Not to mention that puberty had been really nice to him, and he was kind of a babe. Not in an obvious, look-at-me-I'm-so-hot kind of way, but in a shy, nerdy kind of way. Besides, he loved Carly. Always had, always would. Sweet, pretty, kind, smart, perfect Carly. And if he loved Carly, there was no way he would love me. I was the complete opposite of Carly – vicious and sarcastic and rude and lazy. But there was that night, the night we sang on the balcony. There were sparks between us, I knew it. They were too strong for me to have imagined. And then there was what I heard Freddie say.

"_I didn't just mean the singing"_

He had said it under his breath like he was saying it to himself, but I heard it anyway and it had been driving me crazy ever since. Did Freddie really think that I'm amazing? That was the only logical way I could think of to interpret what he said, and whenever I thought about it I got butterflies in my stomach. _Butterflies. _Nobody had ever given me butterflies before. It sickened me. We sat in silence until we pulled into yet another tiny town, this one by the name of Green Acres.

"Do you see anywhere to stay?" Freddie asked, looking around.

"Let's go find food first. I'm about to waste away" I said sadly.

"Yeah, you're the picture of malnutrition" Freddie said sarcastically, poking me in the stomach.

"Yeah yeah, just get me food now. There" I said pointing. "Inside Out Burger"

"Look through the window. It's packed in there" Freddie said. I looked and saw that he was right. It would take ages to get our food.

"So go into the drive-thru" I said. He shrugged and obediently got in line for the drive-thru. As we handed over our money to the girl, she smiled at us. She was so…chipper. I hated chipper.

Freddie's POV

"Happy Fourth!" said the drive-thru girl cheerfully.

"Backatcha" I said, smiling back.

"Have a great night" she said, handing over the paper sack with our food in it. "Enjoy the fireworks. I really hope I can see them from here"

"Fireworks?" I asked interestedly. "Where?"

"They set them off at the town hall, so most people go there. "But" she continued conspiratorially, leaning forward. "The best place to watch them is Harper's Park. Big, wide open field with a great view, and nobody goes there. The town hall gets crowded, but the field is usually pretty empty"

Just then the driver behind us began to beep his horn impatiently.

"Ooh. He sounds friendly" I said, glancing back. "Thanks for the tip"

"No problem"

I drove off and turned to Sam.

"We're going to that field, right?" she said, raising her eyebrows at me.

"Oh, we're going" I answered. I drove out of the restaurant and was driving along the road when I realized I had no idea where to go.

"Pull over here" Sam said, pointing at a convenience store.

"Why?"

"Just do it, nub"

I obediently turned in and parked. As Sam jumped out of the car, I shouted after her.

"Find out where Harper's Park is!"

She returned a few minutes later with a plastic bag in hand and got in the truck.

"That way" she said, pointing.

"What's in the bag?"

"You'll find out"

"Sam…"

"Just drive"

I sighed in frustration and rolled my eyes but I drove in the direction she pointed. Soon enough I saw a sign pointing to the park and I drove in, following a narrow road that wound in a circle around the park. I drove off the road and onto the field, which was empty. I parked in a clear spot, where there were no trees to obscure the view of the clear, cloudless sky. I grabbed the Inside Out paper bag and a few towels out of my bag before getting out of the truck. I threw the towels into the back of the truck and climbed in, spreading the towels over the floor before sitting down. I leaned against the cab of the truck and stretched my legs out in front of me. I heard Sam get out of the truck and shut the door, and she climbed into the bed of the truck, sitting next to me with her legs crossed and putting the convenience store bag in front of her. I opened the paper bag and gave Sam her food before taking out mine. We ate in silence, just looking at the skyful of stars. When we had finished, crumpling up the paper bag and tossing it into the corner of the truck bed, Sam leaned forward and grabbed the convenience store bag. She opened it and pulled out four candy bars.

"Dessert" she said, throwing one into my lap and keeping the other three.

"Thanks, Sam" I said, surprised and slightly touched by this gesture. We ate the candy bars, Sam finishing all three of hers before I was halfway through mine. As soon as I put the wrapper down, a devious smile spread across Sam's face.

"Uh oh" I said. I knew that look. "Sam, what did you do?"

"Oh, I just thought we should celebrate our nation's independence, don't you?"

She smiled at me, that same wicked smile, and reached into the convenience bag, pulling out a bottle of vodka and a two litre bottle of Sprite.

"Sam!" I scolded, shocked. "How the hell did you manage that?"

"Fake ID" she said dismissively. "Come on, gimme your cup"

"I…I dunno…" I said, slightly nervous.

"Freddie, don't be a wimp" she said. "Wait…you have had a drink before, right?"

"Yes!" I lied defensively, thrusting my Inside Out Burger cup at Sam. She raised her eyebrows at me disbelievingly, an infuriatingly knowing smile on her face, but filled my cup before filling her own.

"Well… happy independence day" she said, offering her cup. I clicked mine against hers and nervously took my first sip. It wasn't that great- Sprite with a rubbing alcohol aftertaste – but I managed not to screw up my face in disgust. I drank slowly, so that by time I finished my cup, Sam was pouring her third.

"Lemme get you a refill" she said, grabbing my cup and refilling it before I could protest. She shoved it back at me and I took a small sip, trying not to wince. This one was stronger than the last one – apparently the more Sam drank, the heavier her hand was. Also, it appeared that the more Sam drank, the chattier and more affectionate she got. The more drinks she had, the more she talked, and the more often her monologue was punctuated with hugs. By time I subtly confiscated the vodka bottle, Sam was lying with her legs sprawled wide open in front of her, slumped against the cab of the truck, talking foolishness.

"Freddie, when do the fireworks start?" she slurred, tapping urgently on my leg.

"I dunno, Sam" I said, putting my hand on top of hers to stop the incessant tapping. To my surprise, she flipped her hand underneath mine so that our palms were touching and she twined her fingers with mine. I sat there in shock as she began to absentmindedly rub small circles on the back of my hand with her thumb. I peeked over at her, but she was staring up at the sky, lost in thought. My stomach was a ball of nerves as the gentle circles on the back of my hand continued. _Sam likes me! _I thought, feeling a warm glow spread from my very core to the tips of my fingers at the thought. _Should I kiss her? _I wondered. _No _a voice in my head shot me down. _She's just drunk. And you can't take advantage of her like that. _I knew that it was wrong to let this happen when Sam wasn't thinking straight, but I couldn't bring myself to pull my hand away. This was what I wanted, and I wasn't strong enough to say no. Besides, it wasn't like we were making out or anything. Just a little innocent hand-holding.

"Hey Freddie" she whispered loudly. "Look at the stars. Aren't they pretty?"

"Very pretty"

"I see a smiley face in the stars!" she whispered excitedly. "Do you see it?"

I looked up, scanning the sky.

"Nope"

She inched closer to me until our bodies were pressed together, side by side. She arched her neck so that her head was right next to mine, trying to see the sky as I saw it so she could show me the smiley face.

"There" she said, pointing. I could smell the vodka on her breath. "See it now? Eyes and a mouth" she said, pointing up at the sky and showing me the exact stars, jabbing her finger up in the air for the eyes and tracing a semi-circle for the smile. I looked where she pointed.

"No, I still don't see it" I said, squinting.

"Look" she said, yanking her hand away from where it was twined with mine and resting on my leg. She grabbed my now empty hand and held my index finger, clumsily curling my other fingers down until I was pointing with my index finger, her hand on top of mine. She lifted our hands so that I pointed at the sky and traced the smiley face in the stars for me, guiding my finger.

"I see it now" I said, dropping my hand.

"The stars are smiling at me" she said, a slow smile creeping across her face. This was a different smile to anything I was used to seeing on Sam's face. Usually she smirked her trademark smirk, or her smile was tinged with sarcasm. But this was a true smile, and her face lit up as she smiled back at the stars.

"They like you" I said, smiling at her. Sam reminded me of a child, staring up at the stars in wonder.

"Do _you_ like me?" she asked, not taking her eyes off the sky. I froze, not sure how to respond to that question. Sam noticed my silence and looked over at me.

"Do you like me?" she repeated, looking into my eyes. "Because I like you"

My heart and my stomach swapped places and butterflies filled every inch of my being.

"I know you think I hate you" she continued, returning her gaze to the sky. "But I don't. I like you. You're one of my best friends, and even though you're a dork, you're pretty cool. Do you like me? I don't want you to hate me" she finished sadly, casting her eyes downward.

My heart sank. She meant that she liked me as a friend. Nothing more. I looked down at my lap, trying to hide my feelings.

"Yeah, I like you" I said, looking at her. "You may be rude and sarcastic and violent and impossible, but I like you. You're special, Sam" I finished softly.

She looked into my eyes and gave a small smile.

"You're such a nice boy, Freddie" she slurred. "And you have pretty arms" she added as an afterthought.

She rested her head on my shoulder and scooted closer to me, curling up and leaning into my side. I wrapped my arm around her and she inched closer, hugging her knees and snuggling into my side. She fit there perfectly, like we were two puzzle pieces made for each other. Maybe people were like puzzle pieces, and there was only one person that was their perfect match. You could make it work with another person if you really tried, but it would never be right. You could force two puzzle pieces together and make them fit together if you tried hard enough, but it would always be strained and unnatural. But once you found the right piece, it just fit perfectly, easily, naturally. Sam was my other puzzle piece. We sat there under the stars in the back of my truck together – me leaning against the cab of the truck with my legs stretched in front of me and my arm around Sam, and Sam curled up and snuggled into my side, sighing contentedly. Suddenly the first firework exploded in the sky and Sam sat up excitedly onto her knees, looking up at the sky.

"Look, Freddie!" she said, tugging on my hand to get me to sit up. I obediently sat upright and edged forward slightly, so that I was sitting behind Sam. She was gazing up at the sky, her face full of wonder and a slight smile on her face. The fireworks lit up the sky, illuminating Sam's face – her smooth skin, her beautiful blue eyes, the curve of her nose. The colours flickered across Sam's face as the fireworks exploded, filling the sky with light and colour. She watched the fireworks with an expression of awe and wonder, reminding me of a little kid seeing fireworks for the first time.

"They're so pretty…" she said quietly, as though she was talking to herself.

"Yeah, they are" I replied. Her eyes glanced back at me, sitting behind her with my legs stretched out in front of me in a V. She rolled back, shifting from kneeling to sitting, and scooted backwards until she was sitting between my legs. She relaxed back, leaning into me and resting her head in the indentation by my shoulder. She continued to gaze up at the sky, relaxing completely into my torso. I leaned back against the cab of the truck and rested my cheek on the top of Sam's head, watching the fireworks. Now that I was no longer supporting myself on my hands, Sam took them in hers and wrapped my arms around her, resting our intertwined hands on her stomach. She began to absentmindedly play with my hands, twirling my fingers around hers and tracing patterns lightly on my hands with her fingers. Sitting there, with Sam leaning back against me, my arms wrapped around her and our fingers interlocked, I felt like Sam and I were one person. I couldn't tell where I stopped and where she began, and I loved it. This summer, this night, this moment, was perfection. We sat in silence, watching the fireworks flash across the sky. I turned my head and gave Sam a tiny, soft kiss on the top of her head, letting the honeysuckle scent of her hair swirl around my mind. I closed my eyes and breathed in, savouring the moment.

**A/N: I try my hardest not to make anybody too OOC, but it's difficult for me when it comes to Sam. I am nothing like Sam, so I don't know how she thinks, and when it comes to Seddie, we have never really seen that side of Sam, so I am basically guessing what she would be like. Also, in this chapter, I was also guessing what Sam would be like drunk. It's a combination of Sam on laughing gas from iThink They Kissed and what I'm like when I'm drunk haha. Hopefully she isn't too OOC for the rest of the story, when the Seddie really gets going, but just let me know if you think she is.**


	9. Chapter 9: Nightmare

**Once again, thanks for the reviews. Again, if Sam starts to get too OOC (or Freddie, for that matter) just let me know. Relatively short chapter, but oh well.**

Freddie's POV

What the hell was going on? I woke up with a start and sat up, rubbing my eyes and looking around me in confusion. Where was I? I was lying on towels in the bed of my truck, which was parked in a field. Someone was mowing a lawn somewhere, which was what had woken me. The night before came back to me, answering my question as to why I was parked in the middle of a field. I remembered everything that had happened with Sam, and I felt a mixture of pure happiness and stomach-clenching dread. What if Sam didn't remember what had happened? What if she only behaved like that because she was drunk? What if she acted like nothing happened, and everything was normal? I looked around for her, wondering where she was. I rubbed my eyes again and stretched, leaning forward and touching my toes. I sat back up, feeling a little better, and properly surveyed the surroundings looking for Sam. I spotted a glimpse of blonde poking out from behind a tree a few feet away. I gingerly climbed out of the truck, sore from spending the night sleeping on a few thin towels spread over the hard floor of the truck bed, and made my way over to Sam. It was early – the light was pale, the grass was dewy and the air still had a slight chill. I walked over and saw that Sam was sitting on the ground, slumped against the tree. As I grew closer I saw that Sam looked terrible – her hair was all messed up and she had circles under her eyes and she was pale. I walked over and sat next to her, leaning against the tree trunk.

"Hey Sam" I said quietly. She said nothing, just groaned.

"Are you okay?"

With that, Sam leaned to the side so that the tree trunk obscured her head. Just because I couldn't see her face didn't stop me from hearing the awful retching sounds she made. She sat back up, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand.

"I'll take that as a no"

"Remind me never to drink again" she said hoarsely. "I feel even crappier than I did when I licked the swing set"

"Jeez" I said, grimacing sympathetically. "You must feel terrible"

"No chizz" she said, closing her eyes and leaning her head back. "Not only am I puking every twenty minutes, I have a headache and that person with the lawnmower won't go away"

"Yeah, that's what woke me up"

"To add insult to injury, I don't remember a freaking thing from last night"

My heart sank and I tried not to let my disappointment show.

"Nothing at all?"

"Well, I remember beginning to drink. And I remember there were a lot of stars, and I was looking at them. I kinda remember some of the fireworks. Was there a gigantor blue one?" She asked. When I nodded, she continued. "Right, I remember that one. Other than that, everything is pretty fuzzy. It's getting better, though. When I woke up I didn't remember the firework, so I'm hoping that it'll all de-fuzz and I'll remember everything soon"

I felt a tiny glimmer of hope at these words. Maybe she would remember eventually. I was pulled out of my thoughts by Sam sitting upright, clutching her throat and grimacing. I reached forward and quickly gathered her hair into a ponytail, holding it back while she puked.

"Thanks" she said when she was done, slumping back against the tree and closing her eyes again. We sat in silence (I knew better than to try and talk to her) until she once again sat upright, her throat convulsing. I gathered up her hair as fast as I could, holding it back with one hand. I reached forward and very gently put my free hand on Sam's, and she clutched at it, squeezing it every time she retched. I sat with Sam by that tree, holding her hair and her hand, until there was long enough between puking spells for us to get in the truck and find a motel. I checked us into the first motel I came across and we got into the room just in time. As soon as I opened the door Sam ran past me into the bathroom. I dropped the bags on the floor and followed her, finding her crouching in front of the toilet. I knelt next to her, pulling her curls back with one hand and gently rubbing her back with the other. We spent the day in the motel room, just lounging about watching TV and listening to music. We both slept a little throughout the day, but not much, so we were both pretty tired. Sam stopped puking at around midday, but she said that the thought of food made her feel nauseous, so she skipped lunch. We ate dinner early, ordering room service, then I settled on one of the beds with my laptop to do some work on . Sam sat curled up in the armchair in front of the TV, watching a crappy movie. I worked steadily on the iCarly site while the sun sank lower in the sky and finally set. I hadn't done anything on since we set off, so there was a lot to be done. When I finally finished, I closed the laptop and set it on the floor.

"Sam, I'm going to bed" I said. "Sam?"

I looked over and saw that Sam had fallen asleep watching TV, curled up in the armchair. I got out of bed and padded over to the chair. I debated waking her to put her in bed, but she looked so exhausted that I couldn't bear to. I also debated leaving her in the chair, but she needed a decent night's sleep after the day she had. That left me one choice. I bent down and ever so gently eased my arms around her, sliding one under her knees and one behind her back. She stirred slightly and I froze, scared I had woken her, but she continued sleeping peacefully. I lifted her up with ease – the girl weighed practically nothing – and carefully walked over to the bed. Sam turned her head, burrowing it into my chest and sighing in her sleep. I gently set her down on one of the beds and pulled the covers over her. She rolled over onto her side and continued sleeping. I reached down and ever so lightly brushed a piece of hair off her forehead.

"Night, Sam"

Sam's POV

I sat bolt upright in bed. That dream, that damn nightmare that I used to have all the time when I was a kid, had come back. I hadn't had that dream in years, but it came back with a vengeance tonight, and I could feel a light sheen of sweat on my face, mingling with the tears that streamed down my cheeks. I tried to push the nightmare out of my head, but I couldn't. It seemed like the more I tried, the more vivid the images in my mind grew, until I was curled up in a ball, sobbing. Always the same nightmare, reliving the night my dad was stabbed, except in my dreams the stabber killed the rest of my family and then me. I hadn't had this nightmare since I was little, and I noticed that Carly, Spencer and Freddie were now in the dream too, three more people that I had to watch die. I heard Freddie's sheets rustling.

"Sam?" he whispered, his voice groggy. "Sam, what's going on?"

I tried to answer, to tell him that I was fine and to go back to sleep, but I was sobbing too hard.

"Sam?" he asked, sounding concerned and scared. "Sam, what's wrong?"

"I-I-I had a n-n-nightmare" I managed to say between sobs. I was so upset that I forgot to be embarrassed that Freddie was hearing me weep over a nightmare. "I'm f-f-fine, go back to s-sleep"

"Sam…" I heard him say gently. There was silence for a moment, and then I felt him sit on my bed next to me. I felt him begin to softly stroke my hair, shushing me under his breath. I stayed curled up in a ball, hugging my knees tightly to my chest and shaking with the intensity of my sobbing. I realized that Freddie was sitting right next to me, so I leaned over, resting my head in the dent by his shoulder. He wrapped his arms around me and hugged me tightly, rocking me and shushing me under his breath. Eventually I calmed down and stopped sobbing, but I was still really upset. He tentatively let go of me, but he didn't get up.

"Sam are you okay?"

"Mmhmm"

"Are you sure? Do you wanna talk about it?"

I let out a sigh.

"It's nothing. Just a nightmare I've had since I was a kid. I haven't had it in years, actually, I wonder why I had it again tonight…Anyway, it's no big deal"

Freddie seemed to understand that I didn't wanna discuss it, so he let it go.

"Do you think you'll be able to go back to sleep?"

"Yeah" I said, lying down. I felt Freddie get up and I reflexively grabbed his hand before really wishing I hadn't. Freddie didn't say anything, but he seemed to get that I wanted him to stay until I fell asleep, like my mom used to do, so he sat down next to me, leaning against the headboard and stretching his legs out in front of him. He stroked my hair, which was exactly what my mom used to do, and in no time I fell asleep again.

**This is another chapter where Sam is quite OOC, but I like the idea of Sam having a vulnerability that she isn't afraid to show Freddie anymore. I feel like it illustrates the transition that Sam and Freddie are making from friends to something more. But maybe it's just me.**


	10. Chapter 10: She Is Love

**Nice long chapter to make up for the short last one :) Only one more chapter after this one, unfortunately. Keep reviewing, please :) **

Sam's POV

Freddie's alarm went off as always the next morning, and I expected him to turn it off and give me a few more minutes sleep like he usually did, but the alarm just kept going. I opened my eyes groggily and yawned. I was sleeping on my side, facing Freddie's bed, but it was empty. I wondered vaguely where he was, and then I grabbed the phone and turned off the alarm before I went insane. I was putting the phone on the bedside table when I froze. I knew where Freddie was. Now that the alarm was off and I could think clearly, I noticed the weight of the arm draped over my waist. I noticed the warm body against my back, pressing into me with every inhalation. I noticed the calf that my foot was resting on. _What the hell? _I thought. I remembered the night before, the nightmare, how Freddie had come to comfort me. But why was he sleeping in my bed? The last thing I remembered was lying down, trying to go back to sleep, with Freddie stroking my hair. _Ah _I thought. _He must've fallen asleep before he got back into his own bed._ I knew that it should upset me that I woke up to find the dork spooning me, but it didn't. I kind of liked it, to be honest. But Freddie could never _ever _know that. I had to get out of bed before he woke up and found us like this, or things between us would get unbearably awkward. As I was debating how best to get up, I felt Freddie move. _Crap, he's awake _I thought. But he just rolled over onto his back, lifting his arm off my waist. I shivered as the cold air conditioning hit the newly exposed skin on my back where Freddie had been pressed a moment ago. Fortunately, this made it really easy to get out of bed without waking Freddie up, and I gingerly got to my feet, grabbing some clothes and tiptoeing into the bathroom. When I came out, I found Freddie packing the bags. He straightened when he heard the door open.

"Hey" he said. "How did you get up before me?"

"I have no idea" I said. Freddie either didn't notice that he woke up in my bed, or he chose not to acknowledge it. Either way, it worked for me. He zipped up the last bag and grabbed a pile of clothes that he had put on the bed. While he showered, I thought about how best to handle this situation. Should I thank him, or would that make things awkward? Should I pretend nothing happened, or would he get offended? I still wasn't sure why he hadn't told me what had happened on the night of the 4th of July. My memory did indeed become clearer as the day progressed, and what had happened between me and Freddie had come back all at once, crystal clear. Why didn't he tell me? Was he embarrassed? Was he relieved that I had forgotten because he didn't like me, and he figured that he had dodged a bullet? Or did he think that I only did what I did because I was drunk, and I don't feel the same way sober? Truthfully, that theory was half true – I did only do what I did because I was drunk, but it was because the alcohol gave me the courage to do what I was too scared to do sober. I knew which answer was the right one – Freddie and I liked each other. It was official. There was no more denying it, or beating around the bush. Not after the events of the past few nights. I knew that Freddie would be too scared to say anything, so I had to take matters into my own hands. I shuddered at the thought of making myself so vulnerable. I spent my life building a shell that was so impenetrable, so tough, that I gave the impression that nothing could touch me. I wasn't used to being vulnerable. Freddie came out of the bathroom and we set out. We ate breakfast at a diner before heading out onto the road. Tonight was our last night before reaching Providence, so I had to do it by tonight. I spent the majority of the day thinking about what I would do or say, and I came up with a million possibilities, but they were all wrong. I spent hours thinking about it, yet when we pulled into the final hick town, I had no idea what I was going to say. We ate dinner and I tried not to let my nerves show, although I had been nervous all day.

"Hey Freddie?" I said at the dinner table.

"Yeah?"

"About last night…" I began. I saw him tense up slightly. "Thanks"

He relaxed. "No problem"

He seemed to know that I still didn't want to talk about it, and he dropped it. That was one thing I liked about Freddie, he always knew when you wanted to talk and when you didn't.

After dinner we returned to our motel room. With every passing hour I grew more nervous, knowing that I had less time to procrastinate. I went to have a shower after Freddie, hoping it would calm me down, but it didn't. I came out of the bathroom to see Freddie sitting on one of the beds with his guitar. He glanced up briefly when he heard the door open, but he kept playing. He was playing one of my favourite songs, and I sat on the other bed, listening as he sang.

_I've been beaten down, I've been kicked around_

_But she takes it all for me_

_And I lost my faith in my darkest days_

_But she makes me want to believe_

_They call her love, love, love, love, love_

_They call her love, love, love, love, love_

_She is love, and she's all I need _

_She's all I need_

As he sang the last line he looked up, straight into my eyes, like he was singing to me. Suddenly I interrupted him.

"Could you teach me this song?"

"Teach you?"

"Yeah. Teach me to play it. I love this song"

"Uh, yeah. Sure. Come here"

I went and sat next to Freddie on his bed, and he handed over the guitar.

"Okay, for the first bit, put one finger here, one here, and one here" he said, placing my fingers on the strings as he spoke. "Then pick these strings like this" he demonstrated and I copied.

"Right. Next, put one finger… hold on" he said. He edged around until he was behind me, and he put his fingers on the strings, playing the first two notes.

"Right, okay" he said, leaning back. "Sorry, this is easier when it's like I'm holding the guitar"

I had an idea. "Would this make it easier?" I asked, getting up and planting myself in his lap.

"Um…yeah. Yes it would" he answered, getting over the shock and composing himself. He taught me the guitar up to the chorus where I had interrupted him, showing me the notes and how to strum. His chin rested on my shoulder and I could feel his breath warm on my skin. Then he started showing me how the singing went with it.

"So it goes like this" he said. He played the intro and then stopped, his fingers still holding down the strings.

"This is where you start to sing" he told me, plucking the strings.

_I've been beaten down_ he sang. "By you" he muttered under his breath, grinning at me.

"Then you change it to this one" he said, moving his fingers.

_I've been kicked around _he continued. "Also by you" he added on.

_But she takes it all for me._

_And I lost my faith _he continued slowly, showing me how and when the notes changed.

_In my darkest days _he sang, looking across at me. I turned my head and he gazed directly into my eyes. Looking into Freddie's eyes was like swimming in pools of yummy, warm, melted chocolate. Or gravy. Yeah, gravy.

_But you make me want to believe _he sang softly into my ear, taking some creative liberties with the lyrics and sending shivers down my spine.

_They call her love, love, love, love, love_

_They call her love, love, love, love, love_

_She is love, and she is all I need _

_You're all I need _he sang to me in a whisper, bending his head forward so that his nose was resting on the side of my face. I could feel his warm breath on my cheek. It smelt minty, like toothpaste. He very gently kissed my cheek, letting his lips linger. He let go of the neck of the guitar and I took his hand in mine, twining our fingers together. I twisted my neck and turned my head to face him and he kissed me ever so slightly, as if to tease me. I was having none of that, and I leaned forward, kissing him back. His lips were warm, and soft, and gentle, and I could smell his Freddie smell and this was heaven. He broke the kiss and pulled his head back slightly. My neck was beginning to hurt from being arched to the side, so I straightened it, looking at my lap. Freddie very gently kissed my temple, and then began laying a trail of soft, tiny kisses from my temple down my jawbone and neck, and onto my shoulder. I leaned my head back, resting it on his shoulder and sighing contentedly. I put the guitar aside and got up, turning around to face Freddie so that I was kneeling in front of him. I kissed him again, leaning forward into the kiss and putting my arms around his neck. He slipped his arms around my waist and drew me closer, pressing our bodies together. I played with the hair at the nape of his neck, feeling him shiver slightly. I reluctantly broke the kiss and leaned back as far as Freddie's firm grip on my waist would allow, looking at him. Suddenly, I felt laughter bubbling up inside me and I lurched forward, hugging Freddie tightly and laughing in sheer joy. He hugged me back, tightening his grip on my waist and laughing along with me. I pulled away and sat back, exhilarated and indescribably happy.

"Let's go somewhere" I said, sitting forward in excitement.

"Now?" Freddie asked, confused. "Where? And why?"

"Yes now. I don't care. And because I'm too excited to sleep" I answered his questions, hugging my knees to my chest. "Come on, let's go!"

Freddie shrugged and got up, and I excitedly leaped to my feet, completely forgetting that we were wearing pajamas. Freddie turned back and grabbed his camera, and as an afterthought put something else in his pocket. I bounded out the door and waited for Freddie to shut the door behind him, bouncing impatiently. I grabbed his hand and ran down the hallway, pulling him behind me. We took the elevator, Freddie backing me into a wall and kissing me as soon as the doors closed. When they opened we ran through the reception area hand in hand, too elated to notice the tuts and reproaching looks that we got. We burst into the parking lot and I stopped, looking up. The night was clear and the sky was filled with stars, twinkling happily above us. We walked hand in hand down the street, him in gray sweatpants and a T-shirt and me in plaid pajama pants and a tank top, looking for somewhere to go. We found ourselves in the same park we spent the night of the Fourth of July in, but on the other end. We were walking on the narrow path when I spotted something in the distance. It was a playground, I realized excitedly. I ran over, totally psyched, and immediately began climbing on the monkey bars. Freddie followed and laughed when he saw me hanging upside down on the monkey bars, waiting on him. He took out his camera and began snapping pictures of me all over the playground equipment – on the monkey bars, swinging on the swings, going down the slide. Finally I walked over and snatched the camera from him.

"Your turn" I said, snapping a picture of him. He began chasing me, ordering me to give him back his camera, then pleading with me to give me back his camera. I just darted away, snapping pictures over my shoulder. Finally he gave up and sat down heavily on the grass, panting.

"Fine. I give up" he said, holding up his hands in defeat. "Just please don't break it"

"I won't" I said, snapping another picture. "I just wanna take pictures"

"Then take this" he said, pulling something out of his pocket and throwing it to me. I automatically caught it, and then inspected it. It was a waterproof disposable camera.

"Where the hell did you get this?" I asked in confusion, sitting next to him.

"Some girl gave it to me outside the motel that night it rained" he said, shrugging. "And she ran away before I could give it back"

"Weird" I said. I checked to make sure there were still pictures on it, and then I gave Freddie back his camera.

"Smile" I said, snapping a picture. He smiled, and then pointed his camera at me.

"Your turn" he said. "Smile"

I smiled at the camera, and then leaned against his side, bringing my head close to his.

"Now we both smile" I said, holding out my arm in front of me and pointing the camera at us. I smiled and Freddie kissed my cheek, and I snapped the picture.

"Enough of this now" I said, putting the camera down before snatching Freddie's and putting it next to the disposable one. "Now we have fun"

I hopped to my feet and pulled him up, dragging him by the hand to the monkey bars. We climbed and played around, hanging upside down and swinging. I had an idea. When we were in first grade, I was the only person who would hang upside down on the monkey bars – everybody else was too scared. It was picture day at school, and we were all lined up outside in the playground to take our pictures. I was behind Freddie in the line, which passed next to the monkey bars. I decided that waiting on the ground was too boring, so I climbed up and hung upside down, still in my spot in line.

"Sam, what are you doing?" Freddie had whispered.

"I'm bored" I answered. "Why don't you come up here with me? Or are you too scared?" I mocked.

"I'm not scared" Freddie said defiantly, and he awkwardly climbed up and hung upside down next to me, the panic visible in his eyes. We hung there until a teacher yelled at us to get down, but not before the photographer had snapped a secret picture of us. It was really quite a funny picture, a few kids on either side of us standing, waiting in line, then me and Freddie upside down on the monkey bars, still in our spots in line. I loved that picture – I thought it was hilarious. Especially the terrified expression on Freddie's face. I actually had it framed, sitting on my desk at home. I hid it every time Freddie came over, not wanting him to know that I had a picture of us framed on my desk, but I figured that now was the perfect time to update it.

"Does your camera have a timer?" I asked Freddie. He nodded.

"How long?"

"The longest is twenty seconds, why?"

"How do you set it?"

He told me how and I hopped off the monkey bars, walking over to the cameras.

"Sam, what are you doing?"

"Hang upside down"

"Sam-"

"Just do it"

He shrugged and hung upside down on the monkey bars, his knees hooked over the bar. I turned on the timer on his camera and set it on the swing, checking to make sure that Freddie was in the picture. I pushed the button and a light began flashing, telling me that I had twenty seconds to get in front of the camera. I ran over to the monkey bars and quickly clambered up, hanging upside down next to Freddie.

"Remember the picture of us from first grade?" I whispered to him. He chuckled under his breath, nodding.

"I have it framed on my desk, but I think it needs to be updated"

He looked at me in surprise, then turned his head and kissed me. I vaguely saw the camera flash, but I barely noticed. We hung there, kissing, long after the picture had been taken. Eventually my head began to hurt, so I broke the kiss and righted myself, landing with a soft thump on the sand below us. I heard Freddie do the same behind me, but I was already on my way over to where I had dropped the disposable camera. I picked it up and walked over to where Freddie was standing, putting the lens cap on his camera.

"I'm tired" I announced. He nodded in agreement and held out his hand. I took it gladly, twining our fingers together, and we walked back to the motel. As soon as we got back to the motel room I collapsed on my bed on my stomach, spreading myself across the mattress. Freddie turned off the light, so that the only light in the room came from the bedside lamp, and walked over.

"Night, Sam"

I turned over onto my back and sat up. Freddie was sitting down on his bed, and I caught his eye.

"What, no goodnight kiss?"

He smirked at me, then got up and walked over to my bed, bending down and kissing me soundly. He pulled away far too soon, and got into bed, turning off the light and plunging the room into darkness.

"Night Freddie"


	11. Chapter 11: Lucky

**Last chapter :( Fortunately it's, like, twice as long as all the others cause I couldn't find a logical place to separate it, so there you go. Thanks for all the reviews, guys. Seriously. I don't care if you have reviewed before, review again. I would love it if you guys gave me some story ideas, if you don't mind. My problem is coming up with original story ideas, so if you have one that you wouldn't mind me using, let me know and I'll see if there any I can use :D**

Sam's POV

Freddie woke me up as usual the next morning, but instead of a shake on the shoulder or the promise of bacon, he woke me up with a kiss.

"Morning, sleeping beauty" he said with a smile. "Come on, last day of the road trip!"

I dragged myself out of bed and had a shower, emerging to find Freddie waiting with my bag in his hand, as per usual. He handed it to me and we left the motel, finding breakfast in a café. We got back in the car and drove, happy as could be. Freddie drove with one hand on the wheel and one hand around mine.

"Hey Sam?" he asked, in a lull in the conversation. "How did you know?"

"How did I know what?"

"That I like you"

"Oh. That night we sang on the balcony" I explained.

"You felt it too?" he asked, sounding relieved. "I thought it was just me"

"No" I corrected. "Well, yes I did feel it, but that's not it. I heard what you said when I was walking away"

"You heard that?"

"Mmhmm"

"Oh" he said, blushing. I squeezed his hand.

"Don't be embarrassed, idiot, that was the nicest thing anyone has ever said about me"

"Still…"

"My turn to ask. How come you didn't tell me about the Fourth of July?"

"Huh?"

"I remember it all" I said significantly.

"Ah. Well, I was afraid that you only did those things because you were drunk"

"I did" I said. "I was too much of a wimp to do it sober, that's all. Haven't you ever heard the expression 'drunk words are sober thoughts'?"

"Yeah"

"Well, drunk actions are also sober thoughts"

"Good to know"

"I'm just glad to know that you didn't take advantage of me" I teased. "You know, rape me or something"

"No, just invade your bed"

I paused, startled. "What?"

"That morning, after you had a nightmare? The alarm woke me up"

"Well why the hell didn't you get up?"

"Cause I knew that you were awake, and if I didn't pretend to be asleep and act oblivious then it would have been really awkward"

"True that"

"So I rolled over to let you get out of bed, and pretended that I didn't have a clue. Didn't you realize that I "didn't notice" that I woke up in your bed, not mine?"

"I did" I admitted. "But I wasn't about to point it out to you. Talk about awkward"

Freddie's POV

We talked and laughed and held hands until we stopped for lunch. We were getting excited – Providence was only a few miles away. As soon as we finished lunch we raced to the car, eager to get going so we could see Carly. I drove faster than usual, feeling the excitement mount as we drove into Providence. We asked a man on the side of the street where Brown was, and he pointed the way for us. We headed towards it excitedly, pulling into the parking lot after telling security that we were here to visit a friend. We got out of the car and walked hand in hand around the campus for a little while before we realized that we had no idea where Carly was. We were about to go ask the security man when we heard an ear-splitting shriek coming from our left. We whipped around and saw Carly racing towards us, grinning. Her bag was abandoned on the grass near a cluster of very confused-looking teenagers. She launched herself at us, enveloping us both in a bone-crushing bear hug.

"I can't believe you guys are here!" she squealed, letting us go and giving Sam a huge hug. She planted a huge kiss on Sam's cheek before wrapping her arms around my neck, hugging me tightly. I hugged her back until she pulled away and gave me a huge kiss of my own.

"What are you doing here?" she asked.

"We missed you, so we decided to take a road trip and come visit you" Sam answered, subtly taking my hand again. Unfortunately, nothing got past Carly, and she stared at our interlocked hands in confusion.

"Are you guys…together?" she asked, furrowing her brow at us. We smiled and nodded, provoking another squeal and group hug.

We spent the night in Rhode Island, checking into a motel down the street from the university. Carly managed to persuade the program coordinators to let her spend the evening with us. They reluctantly agreed eventually, as long as she was back by ten thirty. We hung around the campus for the afternoon, and as soon as the last activity was over, we raced to the truck and got the hell out of there, finding a restaurant to eat dinner in. The three of us talked non-stop, Carly telling us about the program and us telling her about our road trip. We talked until I looked at my watch and realized that Carly's curfew was in seven minutes. We raced to the truck and sped back to the university, making it through the gates with three minutes to spare.

We spent a few days in Providence, wandering the town during the day and spending time with Carly at night. On our last night in Rhode Island we had a special dinner, in a restaurant that wasn't crappy and cheap. We dropped Carly at the university and hugged her tightly one more time.

"Bye, guys" she whispered in our ears. "I love you"

"We love you too" Sam and I answered in unison. We pulled away and Carly walked back to her room, fading into the darkness. Sam and I drove back to the motel to go to sleep, since we were up early again the next day to make our way back home. I was spending another week driving with Sam, except now she was Sam-my-girlfriend, not Sam-the-girl-I-liked-but-tried-not-to-show-it. In the first week, Sam and I had progressed from frenemies to a couple, and I couldn't wait to see what the next week would bring.

Freddie's POV

It had been nearly a week since Sam and I returned home, and it had been the happiest week of my life. I was sitting at my laptop, loading the pictures from our trip onto the computer. They finished loading and I looked through them. There were a few of scenery and things like that, but most were of Sam. Sam sitting on the dock on our first night, backing the camera, with a spectacular sunset in the background. Sam standing in the middle of that horrific pink room, looking at the camera disgustedly. Sam sitting on a bench, once again backing the camera, with a pond in front of her. Sam sitting on that same bench laughing delightedly as she tossed food to the cluster of ducks in front of her. A series of shots of Sam playing in the rain, drenched from head to toe and grinning, ending with the shot of Sam jumping into the puddle. She had planted her feet in the puddle, knees bent, water spraying out from under her. She was haloed in the streetlight above her head, which was coming down in a cone shape, showing some of the raindrops. Sam sitting in the back of my truck, gazing up at the sky in wonder, the light from the fireworks illuminating her face in colour. Sam playing in the playground, climbing on the monkey bars, swinging and going down the slide. Then there was a series of shots of me from when Sam stole my camera. I was chasing her, talking in every picture, my face growing increasingly red. A picture of Sam smiling exultantly that I took when I finally got my camera back. Then there was the photo of Sam and me on the monkey bars, still in our pajamas, hanging upside down. Our arms dangled above out heads, our shirts were falling down, and Sam's hair was a sheet of golden curls, and we were kissing, our faces red. I had printed that one and put it in my room, next to the photo from third grade that had inspired it. Then there were the pictures of when we were in Rhode Island. Pictures of Carly and Sam, and me and Carly, and me and Sam. There was one picture of the three of us on our last night that our waiter took that I loved. We had been smiling for the camera when Sam said something funny. I don't remember what it was, but it was clearly hilarious, because the three of us were cracking up, our arms around each other. Suddenly, there was a knock on my door.

"Yeah?" I called. My mom opened the door and peeked her head around.

"Here are your pictures" she said, holding out a paper envelope. I walked over to get them, thanking her. When I was cleaning out my bag I had found the disposable camera and sent it to get developed, and I was eager to see the pictures. I pulled them out of the envelope and began flipping through them. The first couple were of the girl who had given me the camera and her parents, but I froze when I got to the sixth picture. It was of me and Sam. We were holding hands and dancing in the rain, laughing. I looked at the next picture, also of us dancing. There were four more of Sam and I just playing around in the rain, laughing the whole time. When I looked at the next photo I froze. It was of Sam and me when we were spinning. I had my hands on her back supporting her, and she was leaning back with her arms stretched out and her wet hair whipping around her head. I was looking at her and she was looking up, and we were both smiling. It was a beautiful picture, and I was stunned that it was taken by a girl with a disposable camera. In the next picture we had collapsed onto the ground in dizziness. I was looking at Sam and Sam was looking at the sky, and you could clearly see the infatuation on my face. _And here I thought I had been so good at hiding my feelings _I thought wryly. The next picture was of me, taken in the park, smiling at the camera. The next photo was slightly off-centre, and you could see Sam's arm in the corner of the picture. Sam was smiling at the camera, looking incandescently happy, and I was kissing her cheek. I smiled at the picture, propping it against my lamp. I then pulled out my video camera to load Sam's video onto the computer, the one she had taken during the traffic jam. To my surprise, there was another video on the camera. When it was loaded, I clicked on it to open it. I saw myself sitting cross-legged on a bed, my guitar in my lap. I watched, confused. When had this been taken? I clearly didn't know that I was being filmed. When the video began I had just started playing a song, and I instantly recognized what was going on. We were in a motel one night on the way home, and Sam had asked me to play a song. I liked the song, and I thought that it was rather appropriate. I was playing the beginning of the song when the video started, and suddenly Sam appeared, walking into the frame from next to the camera and sitting on the other bed, facing me. As she sat down, I began to sing.

_Do you hear me? I'm talking to you_

_Across the water, across the deep blue ocean_

_Under the open sky, oh my, baby I'm trying._

I looked up at Sam who nodded before singing the female part in her unbearably sweet voice.

_Boy I hear you in my dreams_

_I feel you whisper across the sea_

_Keep you with me in my heart_

_You make it easier when life gets hard._

We began to sing together, looking up at each other and smiling.

_I'm lucky I'm in love with my best friend_

_Lucky to have been where I have been_

_Lucky to be coming home again_

We began to _ooh_, still smiling at each other.

_They don't know how long it takes_

_Waiting for a love like this_

_Every time we say goodbye I wish we had one more kiss_

_I'll wait for you, I promise you I will_

_I'm lucky I'm in love with my best friend_

_Lucky to have been where I have been_

_Lucky to be coming home again._

_I'm lucky we're in love in every way_

_Lucky to have stayed where we have stayed_

_Lucky to be coming home someday._

I began to sing alone again, Sam bobbing her head to the music.

_And so I'm sailing through the sea_

_To an island where we'll meet_

_You'll hear the music fill the air_

_I'll put a flower in your hair_

Sam took over, smiling at me before beginning to sing.

_Though the breezes, though the trees_

_Move so pretty you're all I see_

_As the world keep spinning round_

_You hold me, right here, right now._

I joined in and we sang together.

_I'm lucky I'm in love with my best friend_

_Lucky to have been where I have been_

_Lucky to be coming home again._

_I'm lucky we're in love in every way_

_Lucky to have stayed where we have stayed_

_Lucky to be coming home someday._

We _ooh_ed again, looking at each other and smiling as the final _ooh_ faded away. We smiled and Sam got up, leaning forward to kiss me before walking over and turning off the camera. The video stopped, the screen going black before the first frame of the video appeared, waiting for me to press play again. I sat there staring at the screenshot, surprised and confused. Surprised because we sounded pretty good, and confused because I wasn't sure why Sam had filmed us in the first place. Fortunately, at that moment, she walked into my room.

"Hey Fredward" she greeted me. "What goes on?"

"Sam, why did you film this?" I asked, pointing at the screen. She looked and obviously recognized the screenshot, because she looked slightly embarrassed.

"I dunno" she said, sitting on my bed. I swivelled around in my chair to face her. "I like it when we sing, and I think we sound pretty good, so I thought I would make a video of it. Besides, I kinda want a video of us singing. You know, for when I'm old and grey. Are you mad?"

"Mad? No. Confused? Slightly. Hungry? Very"

"Excellent" Sam said, getting up. "Let's go get some food"

We walked towards the door before I remembered the pictures.

"Oh, remember the disposable camera that the girl gave me randomly?"

She nodded and I handed her the paper envelope. She opened it and looked at the first picture. She looked at me confused.

"Keep going"

She kept flicking, her face growing more confused as she saw more pictures of these people she didn't know. Suddenly she froze, and I knew that she had reached the first photo of us.

"The girl was taking pictures of us?"

"Apparently"

She flipped through them, laughing under her breath at the photos of us acting like idiots, dancing in the rain. She stopped at one picture, and although I couldn't see it, I knew which one it was. She flipped it around to show me, and sure enough, it was the one of us spinning.

"This is amazing" she said, looking at it again. "Can I keep it?"

"Sure. My mom got doubles of everything"

She looked at the rest of the pictures, smiling at the one of us in the park, me kissing her cheek.

"I love this one"

"Me too" I said, pointing at where my copy was propped up on my desk. She put the envelope down and held out her hand. I took it and we walked hand in hand out of my bedroom. I thought about how unpredictable life was. You could think you had it all figured out, then life would throw you a sudden curveball and you realized that you had it all wrong. Who knew what life would bring? I certainly didn't, but as I walked down the street, the sun shining on my face and Sam's hand in mine, I felt pretty sure that I could take whatever came my way.


End file.
